In a low-income south Texas school with primarily Mexican American students, teacher assessments of fourth-grade students' content reading ability and work habits predicted student success for that school year, as measured by grades and achievement scores. Teacher input can be critical in the early identification of students at risk of dropping…

Research on income and poverty trends of Latinos relative to whites and blacks, 1972-92, explains little about erosion of Latinos' relative economic standing because it is limited to static description, does not sort structural and individual mechanisms undergirding inequality, and does not recognize increasing heterogeneity of the Latino…

Examines effects of socioeconomic status, school funding, English proficiency, and Latino population concentration on achievement scores of students in grades 3, 6, and 12 in 66 rural California school districts. Performance on the California Assessment Program was predicted primarily by parental socioeconomic status, and, unexpectedly, improved…

A survey of 100 Mexican American undergraduate students assessed their perceptions of five challenges (and associated resources) to completing college: financial problems, domestic responsibilities, academic discouragement, and racial and gender discrimination. There were no differences between upper- and lower-division students. Males were more…

A 1993 Texas survey found that non-Hispanics were significantly more likely than Hispanics to report lifetime alcohol or drug use or past-year alcohol use. Among Hispanics, drug and alcohol use increased with acculturation. Among lifetime drug abstainers, health concerns was the most frequently cited reason for abstention for both groups; other…