ABSTRACT
Entering an urban high school was a big transition for Carla who was accustomed to a small rural conservative high school in which diversity was not too visible. Carla's graduation was again at risk because of a conflict with her senior English teacher. Carla exhibited a sense of confidence and a self-assurance that were products of personal growth and mental maturity. Carla manifested her oppositional identity through language and resisted pressures to bow to a dominant culture. Carla and her Mexican peers felt as outsiders in an environment in which language was a huge social and educational barrier. Latinos subjected to disciplinary actions, and the school environment itself, worked together to communicate the idea that Mexican students were disobedient and irredeemable. The perceptions of some of Carla's bilingual teachers on Latino students, reinforced by the media and popular beliefs, were at times harmful to students' self-esteem.
