Latino Immigrant Youth and Interrupted Schooling: Dropouts, Dreamers and Alternative Pathways to College

Author: Marguerite Lukes

Format:
Paperback
Related Formats:
Hardback, Ebook(PDF), Ebook(EPUB)
ISBN:
9781783093427
Published:
Publisher:
Multilingual Matters
Number of pages:
224
Dimensions:
234mm x 156mm
Availability:
Available

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This book offers an innovative look at the pre- and post-migration educational experiences of immigrant young adults with a particular focus on members of the Latino community.  Combining quantitative data with original interviews, this book provides an engaging and nuanced look at a population that is both ubiquitous and overlooked, challenging existing assumptions about those categorized as 'dropouts' and closely examining the historical contexts for educational interruption in the chosen subgroup.  The combination of accessible prose and compelling new statistical data appeals to a wide audience, particularly academic professionals, education practitioners and policy-makers.

In this important new book Marguerite Lukes focuses on the educational needs and challenges faced by a population that is nearly invisible to the American mainstream: disenfranchised immigrant youth. Through her detailed analysis Lukes helps her readers to see beyond the one dimensional characterizations that typically appear in the media so that they can appreciate the grit and agency that many of them rely upon to survive. She also makes it clear why it is so important to their future and ours to address their educational needs.

Wise and compassionate, Lukes provides unique insights into the dreams, aspirations, and resiliency of young adult Latinos who attempt to persevere through the US educational system despite all odds. A stellar contribution to the field!

Lukes offers compelling evidence that the barriers that Latino immigrant youth face in the United States have nothing to do with cultural deficiencies and everything to do with institutional neglect. She then offers a comprehensive blueprint for addressing this institutional neglect that is a must-read for anybody who is serious about improving the educational outcomes of Latino immigrant youth.

This book about Latino immigrant youth and interrupted schooling is both clear and scholarly, providing a broad overview of issues influencing this specific population of students—about whom we still know very little. Policymakers, K–12 school administrators, adult education administrators, nonprofits, faculty, students, and community leaders will find the substance of this book inspirational and insightful, and will be motivated to act on behalf of these valued young adults and the academic institutions that they attend.

 

Teachers College Record, November 12, 2015

Latino Immigrant Youth and Interrupted Schooling accomplishes the purpose of interrogating about current educational status of Latino young immigrants with interrupted schooling. Moreover it fills a gap in the literature of completions, dropouts, and discontinued education within migrant population. Lukes offers an enjoyable reading that describes individuals' educational trajectories from their countries of origin to the US. In a simple and direct style, she achieves the goal of thickening the problematic issue of Latino young students who do not complete secondary school. Professional and lay readers will appreciate the up-dated information of a less explored subset of immigrants, adding voices and faces to the sheer numbers.

LINGUIST List 26.3605, 2015

Marguerite Lukes is the Director of National Initiatives for the Internationals Network for Public Schools and Assistant Professor at City University of New York's LaGuardia Community College. She is also Co-Chair of the Adult Literacy and Adult Education Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association and an Executive Board Member for the New York State Association for Bilingual Education. With almost thirty years of experience in the field, the primary focus of her research is education policy, particularly concerning the experiences of immigrant language learners from high school level and beyond.

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Understanding Dropouts: Math and History
Chapter 3: Pre-Migration Educational "Choices:" Interrupted Education in Context
Chapter 4: Immigrant Young Adults Entering the U.S.
Chapter 5: Pushouts, Shutouts and Holdouts: Entering, Exiting and Evading High School in the U.S.
Chapter 6: Hard and Soft Skills: Academic Skills, English and Social Capital Among Migrant Young Adults
Chapter 7: The Road Ahead for Young Adult Migrants: Institutional Dilemmas, Nagging Questions and Open Doors
Appendix
References
Index

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