Date of Award

1-1-2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education

First Advisor

Kent Seidel, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Linda Brookhart

Third Advisor

Susan Korach

Keywords

Academic, Mexican, Resiliency, Stories, Student, Success

Abstract

This study tells the personal stories of three academically successful students of Mexican descent. The goal of this study was to give a counter to the stereotypical deficit view of Hispanic students in the eyes of teachers, parents, and other students.

The participants were three high school students of Mexican descent attending an urban high school in Colorado. The research question of this study allowed the participants to tell their story of what it was like to be a student. The research question was: What are the personal and academic stories of academically successful Mexican urban high school students?

Through in-depth interviews the students shared both their positive and negative experiences. The narratives revealed that each student had similar experiences. The study identified common experiences that became themes and through an analysis of the data, nine findings were identified: (listed alphabetically) adversity, college, discrimination friends/peer pressure, language barriers, parent/family support, pride, responsibility, and teacher support.

By telling the stories of three successful students of Mexican descent, light will be shed on what helped these students become successful. These stories give the reader the opportunity to meet three students of Mexican descent though their stories of what it was like to be a student and to see how they were able to succeed and counter the narrative to the more commonly known deficit views of Hispanic students.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Wesley Montoya

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

108 p.

Discipline

Education, Hispanic American studies

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