Hunter College
Center for Puerto Rican Studies
College Readiness for Puerto Rican/Latino Students Annotated Bibliography
Behnke, A.O., Piercy, K.W., & Diversi, M. (2004). Educational and occupational aspirations of Latino
youth and their parents. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 26, 16-35.
In-depth interviews of 10 rural Latino family triads (mother, father and adolescent) investigated
the educational and occupational aspirations of parents and youth, and factors affecting those
aspirations. Using a content analysis of the interview scripts, several themes emerged that
described these families’ experiences. In some instances, Latino parent aspirations were found to
transfer to their youth. However, only one half of the parents were aware of their youth’s
aspirations, and most had not discussed them with their youth. Youth and parents articulated
several barriers to achieving higher or occupational aspirations. Implications for programmatic
initiatives and research are delineated.
Cerna, O.S., Perez, P.A., & Saenz, V. (2009). Examining the precollege attributes and values of Latina/o
bachelor’s degree attainers. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 8, 130-157
This article focuses on understanding successful Latino college student retention at 4-year
institutions. Deficit models fail to consider how Latino students use different forms of capital
(i.e., social, cultural, economic and human) in earning a degree. Using data from the UCLA’s
Cooperative Institutional Research Program, factors associated with Latino degree attainment
within 6 years were investigated. This article will be of interest to educators and policy makers
committed to increasing college access and retention for Latino students.
Contreras, F.E. (2005). Access, achievement and social capital: Standardized exams and the Latino
college-bound population. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 4(3), 197-214.
This exploratory study illustrates the differences in achievement between Latino college-bound
students compared to their White counterparts with respect to key background and achievement
variables. This research presents the gaps in “inputs” that Latino students possess regarding
disparate income, parent education levels, access to Advanced Placement courses, and
performance on standardized exams. The author presents descriptive statistics on college-going
students, comparing Latino students to other high school test takers in the country. Two guiding
research questions include: 1) How does the academic profile of Latino SAT and AP test takers
compare to their peer groups? and 2) What does the Latino profile suggest about a widening
achievement gap? The study breaks down data by ethnicity, including Puerto Rican students.
Data shows that between 1999-2003 Puerto Rican students made up between 1.0-1.1% of SAT
test takers and that GPA trends among Puerto Rican SAT takers increased by .05%. The study
also includes data on Puerto Rican students comparing math and verbal SAT scores over a 10
year period, examining the role of socioeconomic status on student achievement and access to AP
courses.
Del Valle, S. (1998). Symposium: Bilingual education for Puerto Ricans in New York City: From hope to
compromise. Harvard Educational Review, 68(2), 193-218.
In this article, Sandra Del Valle examines the struggle for bilingual education as a fight for civil
rights in which lawyers and litigation have played a large role. By specifically looking at the role
of Puerto Ricans in New York City in these struggles, she examines the fatal gap between two
visions of bilingual education – the vision of the grassroots Puerto Rican community that saw
bilingual education as educational enrichment, and the remedial model that was ultimately
adopted and advanced by lawyers and other professionals in the courts. As Del Valle argues,
national policymakers, federal courts, and advocacy organizations have raised the nation’s
consciousness on issues affecting language-minority students; however, these forces have also
contributed to the compromised nature of bilingual education, making it especially vulnerable to
attack. Therefore, the role of these entities – that is, education advocates, policymakers, and the
courts – must be constructed differently and take its cues from students, parents and local
grassroots organizations.
Flores, S.M. (2010). Assessing the higher education opportunity structure for Latino students: Research
and policy trends at the turn of the century. In E.G. Murillo Jr. (Ed.), Handbook of Latinos and
education: Theory, research and practice (pp. 210-218). New York and London: Routledge.
This article examines how public policy trends have influenced the opportunity structure of
higher education for Latinos. The article describes the growing prominence of Latinos in the
higher education opportunity structure and offers a policy prognosis and an assessment of
primary issues regarding the educational attainment of Latinos. The article argues that a
continuous assessment of challenges, opportunities and successes will be essential to the progress
of Latino students.
Flores, R.J.O. (2002). An examination of neighborhood effects on patterns of high school attrition among
Puerto Rican youth in the New York metropolitan area. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 1,
69-87.
This study examines the effects of spatial concentration of Puerto Ricans on the likelihood of
high school attrition among Puerto Rican adolescents. Using data from the 1990 U.S. Census of
Population and Housing, the authors find that neighborhoods with very high concentrations of
Puerto Ricans did significantly increase the risk of high school attrition among adolescent Puerto
Ricans regardless of family background and other relevant characteristics. They also find
important differences by gender.
Gándara, P., & Contreras, F. (2009). The Latino education crisis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
Drawing on both extensive demographic data and compelling case studies, this book reveals the
depth of the education crisis looming for Latinos, the nation’s largest and most rapidly growing
minority group. The book describes the cumulative disadvantages that too many children face in
the complex American school systems, where one in five students is Latino. Many live in poor
and dangerous neighborhoods, attend impoverished and underachieving schools, and are raised
by parents who speak little English and are the least educated in any ethnic group. The effects for
the families, the community and the nation are sobering. Latino children are behind on academic
measures by the time they enter kindergarten. And although the immigrant drive propels some to
success, most never catch up. Many drop out of high school; those who do go onto college—often
ill-prepared and overworked—seldom finish. Chapter 6 provides data for the two largest Latino
subgroups, Puerto Ricans and Mexicans. The data specifically focuses on SAT score profiles, the
relationships between social class and SAT test scores, mother’s education level and SAT scores
and parent income levels and SAT scores.
Haro, R. (2004). Programs and strategies to increase Latino students’ educational attainment. Education
and Urban Society, 36, 205-222.
This article presents strategies that Latino parents and Latino students need to know regarding
preparing for and selecting the best undergraduate college or university for the career desired,
especially if the choice involves engineering, mathematics or the sciences. Access to pertinent
information on preparation for admission to a college or a university of choice, and then how to
negotiate the system to graduate in a timely manner with high grades, is discussed. Sources for
advice on going to college can be located at community centers, public libraries, schools, and
especially outreach programs and the internet. Moreover, the role of faculty and of academicguidance personnel on most good campuses that are able to assist students to make informed
decisions about career plans is provided. Whether a Latino student succeeds in going to graduate
school involves having correct information, interacting and mentoring with supportive faculty,
learning to use a computer with Internet capabilities, and completing a rigorous academic
program.
Harris, A.L., Jamison, K.M., & Trujillo, M.H. (2008). Disparities in the educational success of
immigrants: An assessment of the immigrant effect for Asians and Latinos. The ANNALS of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science, 620, 90-114.
This study employs nationally representative data to determine how immigrants from the largest
immigrant groups within the United States (i.e., Asians and Latinos) compare to whites on wide
range of educational outcomes. The authors also examine the extent to which socioeconomic
background and immigrant characteristics explain racial/ethnic difference in academic outcomes.
In addition, this study includes analyses that omit whites and compare immigrants to their
nonimmigrant counterparts. Previous studies typically use whites as a basis for comparison,
which the authors argue may not be appropriate for isolating the immigrant effect on scholastic
outcomes. Findings show Asian immigrants have better educational outcomes than whites, which
is accounted for by their immigrant characteristics. In contrast, Mexican and Puerto Rican
immigrants have lower educational outcomes than whites, most of which is explained by
socioeconomic background. Furthermore, findings illustrate the importance of employing the
proper reference group for immigration scholars.
Irizarry, J.G. & Nieto, S. (2010). Latino/a theoretical contributions to educational praxis: Abriendo
caminos, construyendo puentes. In E.G. Murillo Jr. (Ed.), Handbook of Latinos and education:
Theory, research and practice (pp. 108-123). New York and London: Routledge.
This article synthesizes research engaged in educational praxis that has made important
contributions to the field of Latino education, examines commonalities and distinct features of
this scholarship and discusses implications of this research to positively transform the educational
trajectories of Latino students. The article provides a sociohistorical perspective on the traditional
educational research literature on Latino students that has focused on individuals’ supposed
cultural deficiencies and uses the English-only curriculum imposed in Puerto Rico during the
early 20th century as a historical example. In examining research grounded in and informed by
Latino communities, the article cites research that explores the relationship between race/ethnicity
and caring in the educational experience of a group of Puerto Rican students.
Medina, C.L. (2003). Puerto Rican subjective locations. Definitions and perceptions of literacy. Journal
of Hispanic Higher Education, 2(4), 392-405.
This manuscript addresses the epistemological shift from traditional “objective” and “neutral”
forms of perceiving literacy to more complex and subjective perceptions, allowing for
traditionally marginalized narratives to become an active part of the dialogue within the field of
literacy. It critically examines how the author’s definitions of literacy in her scholarly work are
shaped by and grow out of her own identity—a Puerto Rican bilingual woman who navigates
between the mainland and the island.
Mercado, C.I., & Reyes, L.O. (2010). Latino community activism in the twenty-first century: Confronting
the future, learning from the past. In E.G. Murillo Jr. (Ed.), Handbook of Latinos and education:
Theory, research and practice (pp. 250-261). New York and London: Routledge.
This article is about community activism that seeks to affect change in public school policy with
the goal of improving the education of Latino students in the U.S. schools. The goals and
purposes of Latino community activism have changed over time as U.S. communities grapple
with demographic change and changing dynamics of geographical, political, social and economic
forces that shape and influence all facets of life. The article advocates for a re-conceptualization
of Latino activism as a collective project that demands new alliances and the use of local
resources and technological tools in new ways and in diverse social arenas. Some questions that
the article addresses include: How should Latino community activism be conceptualized for the
21st century? and What lessons have been learned from the past that may guide what we do in the
future? The article frames the issues from the perspectives and experiences of Mexicans/Chicanos
and Puerto Ricans/Boricuas. In addressing lessons from the past within the Puerto Rican
community, the article notes the legacy of activism and the emergence of a Puerto Rican
consciousness or group solidarity in the diasporic community. The article explores local cases of
Puerto Rican educational activism in New York City and organizational commitment to the
cultural self-affirmation of the Puerto Rican community, as expressed in organizations such as
Aspira of New York, the Puerto Rican Community Development Project, the Puerto Rican
Forum, and Universidad Boricua.
Nieto, S. (1998). Symposium: Fact and fiction: Stories of Puerto Ricans in U.S. schools. Harvard
Educational Review, 68(2): 133-164.
Puerto Rican communities have been a reality in many northeastern urban centers for over a
century. Schools and classrooms have felt their presence through the Puerto Rican students
attending school. The education of Puerto Ricans in U.S. schools has been documented for about
seventy years, but in spite of numerous commissions, research reports, and other studies, this
history is largely unknown to teachers and the general public. In addition to the research
literature, a growing number of fictional accounts in English are providing another fertile avenue
for understanding the challenges that Puerto Ricans have faced, and continue to face, in U.S.
schools. In this article, Sonia Nieto combines the research on Puerto Rican students in U.S
schools with the power of the growing body of fiction written by Puerto Ricans. In this weaving
of “fact” and “fiction,” Nieto hopes to provide a more comprehensive and more human portrait of
Puerto Rican students. Based on her reading of the literature in both educational research and
fiction, Nieto suggests four interrelated and contrasting themes that have emerged from the long
history of stories told about Puerto Ricans in U.S. schools: colonialism/resistance, cultural
deficit/cultural acceptance, assimilation/identity, and marginalization/belonging. Nieto’s analysis
of these four themes then leads her to a discussion of the issue of care as the missing ingredient in
the education of Puerto Ricans in the United States.
Nieto, S. (Senior Editor), Rivera, M. & Quiñones, S. (Editors). (2010). Charting a new course:
Understanding the sociocultural, political, economic, and historical context of Latino/a education
in the United States. New York, NY: Center for Puerto Rican Studies.
This document is a product of the National Latino Education Research and Policy Project
(NLERAP), a national initiative begun in 2000 by the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter
College and now sited at the University of Texas Center for Educational Policy. The monograph
provides a critical synthesis of the literature in understanding the context of Latino education at
the interpersonal, instructional, and institutional levels. This publication is intended for both
professional and scholarly audiences and is a useful tool for researchers, practitioners, advocates
and administrators undertaking efforts relating to the improvement of education for Latino
students in their local areas. Based on their review of promising practices and creative projects as
well as their critical synthesis of the literature, NLERAP addresses positive future directions in
the broad areas of teacher preparation for diversity, services for ELL and immigrant students,
family outreach and community engagement, and school, state and federal policies and practices.
Perry, W. (1998). Symposium: Memorias de una vida de obra (memories of a life of work): An interview
with Antonia Pantoja. Harvard Educational Review, 68(2): 244-259.
Antonia Pantoja is an important activist and educator in the Puerto Rican community, both on the
Island and in the United States. Pantoja was interviewed for the Harvard Educational Review by
Wilhelmina Perry, and African American educator who has known Pantoja for the last twenty
years as a colleague, friend, and coworker. This interview is part of a dialogue around the
significant issues of Pantoja’s life that reflects her life’s work resisting the colonization of the
Puerto Rican community. Through Pantoja’s memories we are provided with the early and
personal experiences that shaped her political and social commitments in her struggle against
injustice. Pantoja’s contribution to this Symposium brings in a unique voice of a Puerto Rican
woman committed to her people.
Rochin, R.I., & Mello, S.F. (2007). Latinos in science: Trends and opportunities. Journal of Hispanic
Higher Education, 6, 305-355. DOI: 10.1177/1538192707306552.
In United States coverage of leadership in science and engineering (S&E), Latinos are generally
dismissed from consideration. The pipeline metaphor tends to ignore advances made by Latinos
in completing doctoral degrees in S&E. New data suggest a better metaphor, the pyramid of
higher education, for understanding the progress of Latinos in S&E. Questions addressed
include, what fields are pursued? What is the citizenship of Latino doctorates? What are the
baccalaureate origins of Latino doctorates? What roles do community colleges and Hispanicserving institutions play in serving Latinos? Specifically, this article mentions that, after
Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans are the most numerous Latino group, and that many Latinos
receive their S&E doctorates in Puerto Rican universities.
Rodriguez, G.M., & Cruz, L. (2009). The transition to college of English learner and undocumented
immigrant students: Resource and policy implications. Teachers College Record, 111(10), 23852418.
Although the historical context and contemporary issues associated with English learners (ELs)
and undocumented immigrant students are in many ways distinct, the project team strongly
believed that the college transition issues affecting these populations were increasingly salient in
light of their rapid and continued growth throughout the United States. The research questions
guiding this analysis are: (1) What do we know and what do we need to know about the transition
to college of EL and undocumented immigrant students? and (2) What are the resource and policy
implications associated with the transition to college of these students? The chief purpose of this
analysis is to synthesize the current research and thinking about the transitions to college of EL
and undocumented immigrant students and to use the findings to develop a research agenda
focused on emergent critical issues. There is continued growth in the presence of EL and
undocumented students, and this growth affects states with longstanding histories of immigrant
presence, as well as states that have only recently had notable increases in these populations.
Important to understanding the needs and potential of these two groups is that not all EL and
undocumented students are new immigrants. Rather, many have only experienced education in
the United States, having been born here or having arrived at a very young age with their
families. From this analysis, it appears that English proficiency is as much a gatekeeping factor as
it is a facilitative factor for EL and undocumented students in their successful college transitions.
Unfortunately, because of the impact of poverty on these populations, the financial constraints of
transitioning to college further compound the challenges already faced with regard to acquiring
English and advanced subject matter proficiency.
Sokolowski, J., Antrop-González, R., & Maldonado, Z. (2010). Chasing the Florida dream: Examining
the schooling experiences of Puerto Rican youth in a large comprehensive high school. Journal
for the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, 22(1), 219-241.
In the last two decades, Puerto Ricans have been moving rapidly in large numbers to the Central
Florida region. Prior research suggests that this migration is partially due to a search for better
economic and educational opportunities. This study explores the schooling experiences of a group
of Puerto Rican students in a Central Florida high school. Observations and interviews indicate
that for many of these students, an overcrowded, often culturally irrelevant, and linguistically
racist school environment has tainted the promise of greater educational opportunities in Central
Florida. Moreover, a high stakes test known as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test
(FCAT) is making receiving a high school diploma an overwhelmingly daunting task. Finally,
implications for Latino sociology of education are discussed. The study was guided by three areas
of inquiry: 1) the causes of migration to the Central Florida region; 2) how students perceive their
high school’s climate and culture regarding its Puerto Rican/Latino population; and 3) how
students perceive their teachers’ impact on academic achievement. The findings of the study
indicate that despite the perception of having access to better educational opportunities, Puerto
Rican students in Central Florida experience an educational atmosphere of exclusion similar to
that of most youth of color in urban high schools.
Villalpando, O. (2010). Latinas/os in higher education: Eligibility, enrollment and educational attainment.
In E.G. Murillo Jr. (Ed.), Handbook of Latinos and education: Theory, research and practice (pp.
232-249). New York and London: Routledge.
This article provides data and analysis of enrollment status and changes in attainment rates to
more fully understand the conditions and complexity of experience that affect the participation
and success of Latinos in postsecondary education. The article emphasizes the leaks in the
educational pipeline of Latino students compared to white students. Data on Latino educational
attainment is disaggregated by Latino-origin, including Puerto Ricans, Chicanos, Cubans,
Dominicans and Salvadorans. Data shows that out of 100 elementary school students of Puerto
Rican origin, 63 will graduate from high school, 13 will graduate from college, 4 will graduate
from graduate school and 0.4 will graduate with a doctorate.
Walsh, C. (1998). Symposium: “Staging encounters”: The educational decline of U.S. Puerto Ricans in
[post]-colonial perspective. Harvard Educational Review, 68(2), 218-244.
In this article, Catherine Walsh presents and analyzes the colonial “push-and-pull” of education in
a White-run, northeastern school system where Puerto Rican students are the numerical majority.
Using school department data, court reports, interviews, and field notes collected over the last
five years (1993-1998), Walsh provides a case study of the condition and experience of Puerto
Rican students in these schools, making central the present-day manifestations of colonialism in
the workings of schools and highlighting the opposition that emerges in response. This
opposition includes racially/ethnically positioned tensions that shape administrative policy- and
decision making. Walsh suggests that students, parents and others working for the improvement
of conditions for Puerto Ricans must come to better understand the push-and-pull of colonial
relations in the schools, make connections between the need and strategies for educational change
and for change in other social institutional contexts, and establish alliances across groups,
contexts, and other boundaries.