Using LatCrit and QuantCrit, we examined the effect of school climate, ethnic identity, and self-esteem on GPA in a sample of 300 Latinx high school students. We found significant positive correlations between climate and GPA as well as self-esteem and GPA. Moreover, using structural equation modeling, we found self-esteem mediated the…

There has been continued concern over the continued high dropout rate among Mexican origin youth. The purpose of this study is to understand how everyday experiences in school shape the content and meaning of Mexican origin students' social identities and how those social identities influence their academic trajectories over the transition to…

Identity development is a dynamic process which involves reconciling multiple messages. While ethnic minority adolescents' development is affected profoundly by discrimination, positive racial/ethnic encounters can also transform one's identity. Questionnaire data were gathered from 122 tenth-grade Mexican Americans in a low-performing school that…

In this article, the author examines her racial identity and its impact on her interpretation of the schooling experiences of a 10th grade Latina in an ethnographic case study. Prior to this study, the author had been working in a university-based family literacy program where she met Zulmy's mother, Manuela. Due to her experience as a middle…