Latinos Engaged in and Reimagining Public Education Through Community Cultural Wealth

• In Event: Roundtable Session 21
  In Roundtable Session: Hispanic Science and Other Issues

Abstract

Today, Latinos account for one in two people added to the U.S. population (Sáenz, 2012). There is no better visual for this demographic shift than our public schools. While the representation and needs of Latinos continue to climb, mainstream discourses guiding policy discussions, curriculum and instruction, and the overall education of these students continues to ignore the community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) of this growing population (Author, 2011, 2012). This paper draws from a five-year ethnographic study examining the political construction of Texas’ system of college readiness, to demonstrate how Latino communities—i.e., legislators and staff, state-wide organizations, and academic researchers—collectively insert themselves into state-level policy discussions in order to reimagine and co-create a more inclusive public education system.

Author

• Patricia D. Lopez, The University of Texas - Austin