Latino High School Graduation: Defying the Odds

by Harriett D. Romo

While high school drop-out rates have steadily declined among white and African American students over the 1970s and 1980s a constant 35 percent of Latino students continued to quit school before graduation. In this pioneering work, Harriett Romo and Toni Falbo reveal how a group of at-risk Latino students defied the odds and earned a high school diploma. Romo and Falbo tracked the progress of 100 students in Austin, Texas, from 1989 to 1993. Drawing on interviews with the students and their parents, school records, and fieldwork in the schools and communities, the authors identify both the obstacles that caused many students to drop out and the successful strategies that other students and their parents pursued to ensure high school graduation. The authors conclude with seven far-reaching recommendations for changes in the public schools. Sure to provoke debate among all school constituencies, this book will be required reading for school administrators, teachers, parents, legislators, and community leaders.

Genres: Education

342 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1995

Reviews

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

This now classic research-based book is required for anyone who is a serious student of the poor Latino student persistence challenges at the high school level. There is much research here for two books. Read this and you will treasure it as a valuable resource. I wished they had written a follow-up book.