Puerto Rican Students In U S Schools

This volume--the first edited book on the education of Puerto Ricans written primarily by Puerto Rican authors--focuses on the history and experiences of Puerto Rican students in the United States by addressing issues of identity, culture, ethnicity, language, gender, social activism, community involvement, and policy implications. It is the first book to both concentrate on the education of Puerto Ricans in particular, and to bring together in one volume, the major and emerging scholars who are developing cutting-edge scholarship in the field. Puerto Rican Students in U.S. Schools: * features both scholarly chapters (conceptual and research studies) and reflective essays, as well as two poems, * combines broad overview studies with classroom practice and social action, and * includes chapters that trace the history of the education of Puerto Ricans in U.S. schools in general and its history in New York City, and one chapter on return migrants.

This volume--the first edited book on the education of Puerto Ricans written primarily by Puerto Rican authors--focuses on the history and experiences of Puerto Rican students in the United States by addressing issues of identity, culture, ethnicity, language, gender, social activism, community involvement, and policy implications. It is the first book to both concentrate on the education of Puerto Ricans in particular, and to bring together in one volume, the major and emerging scholars who are developing cutting-edge scholarship in the field. Puerto Rican Students in U.S. Schools: * features both scholarly chapters (conceptual and research studies) and reflective essays, as well as two poems, * combines broad overview studies with classroom practice and social action, and * includes chapters that trace the history of the education of Puerto Ricans in U.S. schools in general and its history in New York City, and one chapter on return migrants.

Throughout the world, equity and excellence in education is a major issue of concern. International comparative studies such as those carried out by OECD (PISA) have launched a worldwide debate on the effectiveness of educational systems (macro level), schools (meso level) and teachers (micro level) in terms of enhancing equity and excellence. Inspired by the OECD research and spurred by national policy-making, quantitative and qualitative research studies have recently been conducted in different parts of the globe aiming to provide deeper insight into the crucial variables that have an impact on equity, excellence or both. Among the variables that have been identified as crucial in this respect are the pupils' gender and their socio-economic and linguistic background, teachers' expectations, cognitions and pedagogical approach in the classroom, parental support, financial aspects, educational policies (e.g. priority policies, multilingual policies, early start policies), and variables related to the structure of the educational structure and system (e.g. compulsory school age, comprehensive systems, support structures, system variables enhancing spread of learners). This volume aims to compile a rich collection of research-based contributions, providing a state-of-the-art resource on what we know about this topic today.

The postwar migration of Puerto Rican men and women to Chicago brought thousands of their children into city schools. These children's classroom experience continued the colonial project begun in their homeland, where American ideologies had dominated Puerto Rican education since the island became a US territory. Mirelsie Velázquez tells how Chicago's Puerto Ricans pursued their educational needs in a society that constantly reminded them of their status as second-class citizens. Communities organized a media culture that addressed their concerns while creating and affirming Puerto Rican identities. Education also offered women the only venue to exercise power, and they parlayed their positions to take lead roles in activist and political circles. In time, a politicized Puerto Rican community gave voice to a previously silenced group--and highlighted that colonialism does not end when immigrants live among their colonizers. A perceptive look at big-city community building, Puerto Rican Chicago reveals the links between justice in education and a people's claim to space in their new home.

How often are the perspectives of Puerto Rican students recognized, listened to, and taken into pedagogical account? Not very often, according to this incisive study which deals with the struggles that these students confront in U.S. schools. As active participants in the shifting balances of power, in the dialectic of language, and in the battle over whose knowledge, experience, and voice are recognized and accepted, minority students are uniquely aware of the language and power relation. Puerto Rican students try to make sense out of and fashion a voice from the multiple and often contradictory realities that comprise their daily existence. This book challenges generally accepted perspectives and practices among teachers and calls for new pedagogies that respond to the complex needs of these students. Special focus is placed on the effect that colonial status has had historically on the political, socioeconomic, and psychological reality of the Puerto Rican people. Through the voices of Puerto Rican children, the book explores how the past and present intersect in people's lives, inform pedagogy, and shape the conditions under which and the struggles through which students come to know.

This volume explores issues of scholarship, fiscal policies, and admissions in the higher education of Puerto Ricans, with the emphasis on Puerto Ricans on the U.S. mainland and a particular focus on Puerto Rican admissions to the City University of New York. The first paper, "The Centro's Models of Scholarship: Present Challenges to Twenty Years of Academic Empowerment" by Maria Josefa Canino considers the history of the Centro Puertorriqueno of Hunter College of the City University of New York and its mission for scholarship and the formation of policy related to Puerto Ricans. The second paper, "Puerto Ricans and Fiscal Policies in U.S. Higher Education: The Case of the City University of New York" by Camille Rodriguez and Ramon Bosque-Perez illustrates the interplay between finance and policy and the education of Puerto Ricans. "Latinos and the College Preparatory Initiative" by Camille Rodriguez, Judith Stern Torres, Milga Morales-Nadal, and Sandra Del Valle discusses the College Preparatory Initiative (CPI), a program designed by the City University of New York as a way to strengthen the educational experiences of students. CPI attempts to combine raised academic standards and school/college collaboration to increase the participation and retention of minority students, but it is likely to have adverse effects because of the difficulty students will have in achieving CPI standards before admission. A postscript calls for further efforts by the City University to assist minority students. (Contains nine graphs and references following each paper.) (SLD)