Dream Killers: School Agents and the Transition to High School for Latino Males

• In Event: Reimagining College Access, Culture, and Power Through the Pre-K–16 Pipeline for Latina/o/x Students

Abstract

While extensive research on college access has focused on college choice and preparation, limited research explores the middle school context or transition to high school (Allen et al., 2018; Alvarez, 2010; Hernandez, 2015). For Latino males, expanding the pathway to college is crucial as they encounter challenges that lead to the decreased high school completion and college enrollment rates (Sáenz & Ponjuan, 2009). Lower college enrollment patterns for Chicano/Latino males, when compared to Chicana/Latina females may be explained, in part, by the differential treatment that males encounter in the educational system that are often a result of tracking into lower performing paths, special education programs, and frequent portrayal as deviant and deficient (Gregory, Skiba & Noguera, 2010; Huerta, 2015). The purpose of this study is to explore the role of school agents in helping Latino males transition to high school.

Social and cultural capital theories guide our understanding of the role that institutional agents play during the transition from middle school to high school by examining how relationships that students develop with teachers and counselors impact their transition (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977; Stanton-Salazar, 2004; Stanton-Salazar & Dornbusch, 1995). Unlike upper- and middle-class youth, students of color often rely on institutional agents—individuals such as teachers and counselors with the capacity to transmit institutional resources and opportunities—to provide information and help them develop the skills to initiate, expand, and maintain social networks (Stanton-Salazar, 2011).

Data from this study comes from a follow up study on the lives of Latino middle school students. In the original study, the researcher explored the experiences of Latino males in middle school and the development of their future aspirations. The follow up study, conducted five years after the original study, explores the high school experiences of students and the challenges that they encountered transitioning from middle school.

Preliminary findings from the study demonstrate that while students attended an affluent school district, the middle school that they attended did not prepare them for the rigors of high school level coursework. As such, many of the participants struggled to adjust to the expectations of their teachers who did not develop strong ties with students like their middle school teachers. Second, despite having high expectations for the future, many of the students did not find the mentorship and guided they needed during their freshman year from counselors. Finally, counselors and teachers did not know how to meet the needs of Latino males or students. In many instances, counselors did not know how to support students whose parents were undocumented, preventing many of them from applying to college. This study is significant as scholars and practitioners must begin to identify ways to fill the cracks in the educational pipeline.

Author

• Eligio Martinez, California State Polytechnic University - Pomona