Sylvia Martinez

Fulfilling Educational Aspirations: Latino Students' College Information Seeking Patterns.

A nationally representative sample of high school students is used to examine where students go for college information and how those information sources affect the number of schools to which students apply. Results show that Latino/a students are least likely to access college sources and have applied to the fewest number of schools. Among Latino/a students college resources are also one of biggest predictors of number of schools to which Latino/a students have applied.

The Connections Between Latino Ethnic Identity and Adult Experiences

This study considers the influence of adult experiences on the development of Latino ethnic identity. Using purposeful and snowball sampling, adult participants responded to open-ended questions about their understanding of being Latino. Analysis indicated that changes in the environment or life circumstances had the greatest effect on the reevaluation of identity. This process, referred to as looping, occurred in 35% of the adults surveyed and illustrates the process that occurs when an individual questions previous understanding of identity yet does not lose his/her previous sense of committed self. In addition, the study found that adults who self-identify as having a bicultural orientation were more likely to experience a looping effect, though some Latino-oriented individuals also experienced this effect.

An Examination of Latino Students' Homework Routines.

Homework appears to be positively associated with better student outcomes. Although some researchers have explored the connection between time spent on homework and minority student achievement, few have examined the homework routines of Latino youth. Interviews with Latino high school students show that they have some difficulty completing daily homework assignments. Some of the reasons for not completing homework assignments include lack of motivation, problems with time management, and feeling overwhelmed with the amount of homework assigned. The problem of not completing homework assignments is exacerbated by the fact that few Latino students can turn to their parents for help.

Gender and Racial/Ethnic Differences in Self-Reported Levels of Engagement in High School Math and Science Courses

While gender and racial/ethnic performance gaps in math and science have been well documented, we know little about how students feel while they are in these courses. Using a sample of 793 high school students who participated in the Experience Sampling Method of the Study of Youth and Social Development, this study examines the gender and racial/ethnic differences in self-reported levels of challenge, a measure of student engagement, while students are in math and science courses. Results from multivariate regression analyses indicate that boys report similar levels of engagement while in math and science classes, but girls do not. While Black female students report lower levels of challenge in math classes, Latina girls report lower levels of challenge while in science class in comparison to other racial/ethnic groups.

Mexican American High School Students' Perceived Levels of Challenge in School

This study examines the self-reported average level of challenge of 793 students while in school and doing various school-related activities. Using multivariate regression models, the study examines whether Mexican American students report lower levels of challenge in school and during school-related activities as compared with students of other racial/ethnic groups. The findings suggest that in the general context of school, Mexican American students report the highest levels of challenge. In more specific contexts such as when in science class, Mexican American students report the lowest levels of challenge. Additional findings, implications for educators, and directions for future research are discussed.

‘It wasn’t racism; it was more misunderstanding.’ White teachers, Latino/a students, and racial battle fatigue

Abstract This article explores how and why a group of Latino/a high school students identify and explain racism differently over the course of an 18-month participatory action research (PAR) project. To do this we examine what recent scholarship has termed racial microaggressions in what is thought of as the Post-Racial America public school system. Pulling examples from student and teacher interview, focus group, and class discussion data we first examine how these students’ teachers conceptualize and talk about racism, cross-racial relationships, and racial misunderstandings, and then we juxtapose that with students’ discursive work to make sense of the ways their teachers make their conceptualizations known and/or seen in school. Focusing on the K-12 context, this study finds racial battle fatigue may be why students switch between how they label these aggressions.

The Role of Researcher in Participatory Inquiry: Modeling Intra-Active Reflexivity in Conversational Reflections

This article presents intimate conversations among three colleagues around ethical considerations of ethnographic inter-racial qualitative inquiry. It draws on an ethnographic research project conducted at a high school in rural Idaho, USA. Focusing on the question, “Why are our teachers racist?” the collective worked together to challenge subtle inequity at this particular school. The authors come together in a dialogue to reflect on the role of the researcher within this specific project, but end up illustrating reflexivity, an often hidden aspect of the research process, opening an entangled, unresolved, and yet meaningful set of interpellations around practical methodological concepts.

School Factors and Alcohol Use: The Moderating Effect of Nativity in a National Sample of Latino Adolescents

ABSTRACT Background: School is an important developmental context for adolescents and may be related to adolescent alcohol use. Less is known as to whether the relationships between school factors and alcohol use differ between Latino youth born outside of the United States versus those born in the United States. Objective: The aim of this study is to test nativity as a moderator of the relationship between school factors and alcohol use among Latino adolescents. Methods: This study used data from Waves I and II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to test nativity as a moderator of the relationship between school factors and alcohol use in a subsample of Latino adolescents. Results: Results found that during adolescence, nativity moderates the relationship between school connectedness and Wave I alcohol use. For those born outside of the United States, school connectedness was not related to alcohol use. Significant main effects emerged for grades in school and truancy. Better grades were associated with less alcohol use, while truancy was associated with greater alcohol use. The longitudinal relationships between school factors and Wave II alcohol use were not statistically significant. Conclusions: School connectedness is a contemporaneous risk factor for alcohol use among those born in the United States. Prevention efforts that address school contextual factors may be important for all Latino students to reduce engagement in alcohol use and optimize well-being.

The Effects of Participation in Interscholastic Sports on Latino Students’ Academic Achievement

Abstract Past studies have established a positive link between participation in school-sponsored extracurricular activities and academic achievement. But few studies have focused on how participation in extracurricular activities might impact Latino students’ academic achievement. As participation in extracurricular activities has increased over time among the Latino student population, it is possible that academic benefits of participation have changed. Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, this study examines the link between participating in interscholastic sports and academic outcomes for Latino high school students and whether Latino students participate in interscholastic sports to the same extent as other racial/ethnic groups. Results suggest a positive association between participation in interscholastic sports and mathematics scores for Latino students, and also a larger gain in mathematics scores in comparison to White students. In addition, results indicate that Latino students do not have the same access to these types of extracurricular activities as other students.