ABSTRACT
All across the country, schools are struggling with the same challenge: how to create schools and classrooms with teachers, staff , and administrators who ensure learning occurs for all students. We know that for many students, particularly Latina/o children of low income households, the economic possibilities and opportunity for social mobility off ered by academic achievement is unparalleled by any other formal institution. Of equal importance is the socialization and development space that schools and communities off er Latina/o students and their families. While schools are considered the cornerstones of society, they are also the gatekeepers that help perpetuate an underclass of poorly educated youth with few skills and opportunities. Schools are institutions that are tailored for a particular mainstream, namely Euro-centric, middle class, and oft en male students. As such, students are required to perform within average scales that for Latina/o students oft en result in remediation and separation because of inherent cultural and economic biases. Latina/o students who drop out, or better yet, are “pushed out” of school, oft en experience learned helplessness as a result of repeated exposure to hostile and messages of hopelessness.
