ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the cultural, gender, socioeconomic, familial, and language characteristics of Hispanic American children and adolescents. It also describes the educational characteristics and problems of Hispanic American learners. The chapter presents several practices that impede the educational process of Hispanic American children and adolescents. Hispanic Americans, as a group, include people who are Mexican Americans, Central and South Americans, Chicanos, Spanish Americans, Latin Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Guatemalans, and Salvadorans. As with other learners, Hispanic American children and adolescents may experience "double jeopardy" if educators label learners and base teaching and learning decisions on cultural stereotypes. Hispanic Americans' socioeconomic status is a result of their educational attainment, as is true of people from other cultures. Some Hispanic American learners' English language ability poses a problem outside of their immediate neighborhood, because they tend to retain the native tongue rather than make a cultural transition to English.
