Noah Borrero

Ecological English Language Learning Among Ethnic Minority Youth

To empirically investigate language learning in relational and cultural settings, the authors developed and administered the Ecological Language Learning and Academic Success scale to an ethnically diverse sample of 269 urban high school students who speak a language other than English at home. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a four-factor structure (Educational Learning, Friend-Based Learning, Family-Based Learning, and Community-Based Learning) with strong reliability estimates. To explore the interrelationships across the various ecological settings, the authors then conducted multidimensional scaling to create a visual representation of the distances between scale items in three-dimensional space. Their findings reveal a disconnect among the various settings. The authors discuss these findings in the context of maximizing bilingual students’ cultural assets by bridging the social communities in which they learn English and achieve academically.

Nurturing Students’ Strengths: The Impact of a School-Based Student Interpreter Program on Latino/a Students’ Reading Comprehension and English Language Development

Framed within the growing population of English language learners (ELLs) in urban schools, this study examined the learning experiences of bilingual Latino/a students who were taught to serve as on-site interpreters at their inner-city K-8 school in California. Participants in the Young Interpreters Program had significantly higher scores in Reading Comprehension and Paraphrasing at posttest in comparison with their classmates. In addition, interview data revealed students’ increased efficacy in their abilities as interpreters and students. The use of an asset approach to educating ELLs in urban schools is discussed.

Preparing New Teachers for Urban Teaching: Creating a Community Dedicated to Social Justice.

Focusing on community as a key element in teacher education, this paper highlights the importance of new teachers embarking on their careers with a vision for social justice. Paying specific attention to the need for effective teachers in Americas urban schools, the author stresses purposeful development of this vision for social justice alongside practical skills for classroom instruction in teacher education. The Teacher Education for the Advancement of a Multicultural Society (TEAMS) Program at the University of San Francisco is described to show possibilities for offering new teachers this combination. Professional development, networking, and service-learning are highlighted as foundations of TEAMS designed to help new teachers begin their careers with vision and a sense of community.

Developing and Enacting Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: Voices of New Teachers of Color

ABSTRACT A group of preservice and first year teachers share their experiences as new teachers of Color entering the profession in urban public schools. Specifically, these novice teachers discuss the transition from an urban education teacher preparation program into the classroom and their successes and challenges enacting culturally relevant pedagogy. Findings showcase understanding self, community, and collaboration among critical pedagogues and navigating theory and practice as emergent themes. These new teachers speak to the journey of becoming the teachers they want to become and the challenges they encounter in public K-12 schools. Implications are presented to highlight the power and passion of these new teachers and how we, as critical scholars, must learn from them and work with them as we seek to disrupt the dominant, middle class, white discourse in teacher education programs and educational research.

Enacting Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: Asset Mapping in Urban Classrooms.

Abstract In an attempt to confront monolithic perceptions of achievement and an educational narrative that defines communities of Color by their supposed deficits, the current study presents asset mapping as an example of culturally relevant pedagogy in action. Asset mapping is a pedagogical tool for students to visually represent personalized stories of their cultural assets and participate in a community-based gallery walk to showcase their maps. Interviews and focus groups with third- and sixth-grade teachers and students from an urban public school revealed learning about self, learning about others, and building community as emergent themes after completing the project. We present these themes and discuss asset mapping as a possible model for strength-based pedagogy that centers the lived experiences of students, their families, and their shared stories in classroom curriculum.

Bilingual and Proud of It: College-Bound Latinos/as and the Role of Interpreting in Their Success

With a focus on bilingual students’ sociocultural learning and cultural assets, the current study presents in-depth interview data from five bilingual Latino/a graduating seniors at a public high school in California. All five participants come from immigrant families and are first-generation college-bound students. Their voices speak to the role of bilingualism in their lives, its presence in many different cultural contexts, and its impact on their academic success. Results are discussed in relation to the importance of recognizing bilingual youths’ cultural and linguistic assets at school and disseminating research that documents their successes.

Fostering the Cultural Experiences and School Engagement of Samoan American Students in Urban Schools

We explored the associations of collective self-esteem and parent educational practices with school engagement in a sample of 128 Samoan middle and high school students in an urban school district. Simultaneous regression analysis revealed that each of these independent variables contributed to significant variance in school engagement. Specifically, the overall regression model accounted for 22% of the variance in school engagement. Collective self-esteem was the most significant association, followed by parent educational practices. Implications discuss how we must consider Samoan and other marginalized youths’ cultural worth and perceptions of parental practices as critical factors influencing their school connections.