<p>Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Current Population Survey, this work will examine under-reporting of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in construction for Hispanics from 1976-2008 at the national level. Previous research implemented different methods and techniques to examine the reasons behind under-reporting of workplace injuries and illnesses, concluding that the current surveillance system suffers from a problem of chronic under-reporting. By focusing on Hispanics working in construction, and by using different methods to examine to what degree the presence of Hispanics at the worksite contributes to the under-reporting of nonfatal occupational injuries and illness, our findings suggest that the presence of Hispanic construction workers significantly reduces the number of reported injuries. </p><p> A lagged fixed effect model will be used to investigate the under-reporting issue in construction with regard to Hispanics. Usage of this model constituted the first departure from previous research that studied under-reporting in which capture-recapture and face-to-face interviews were used. The second departure was implementing this method in the construction industry. This is the first time a lagged fixed effect model has been used to study this phenomenon (under-reporting in construction), while most literature about under-reporting has been restricted to manufacturing with some covering the overall economy. Lastly, this work is different in its duration and scope: It covers the years from 1976 up to 2008 and includes all 50 states and the District of Columbia. </p><p> From a base model (without inclusion of Hispanics) we can see that the real workers&rsquo; compensation rate negatively impacted all types of injury reporting except light-duty, while union rates, unemployment, wages, and firm size correlate negatively with all types of injuries. When Hispanics and their interactions with union rate and workers&rsquo; compensation rates were included and summed as independent variables, we see that the presence of Hispanics leads to a decrease in the incident rate for all types of injuries except for light-duty. In other words, the presence of Hispanics leads to lower reporting and, therefore, the appearance of lower rates of all types of injury rates except for light duty which indicates that Hispanics are under-reported. </p>

<p>Although literacy skills have been associated with critical academic, social, and economic outcomes, most adolescents in the United States lack basic proficiency in reading comprehension. Experts in the field of adolescent literacy have identified affective components of reading (e.g., reading attitudes) as a critical topic in need of further research. Prior research has found a significant correlation between affective components of reading and reading comprehension, even after controlling for cognitive covariates (e.g., vocabulary). However, the bulk of this research has been limited to first language learners and children in the early grades. Therefore, this study extends the reading attitudes literature by examining these relationships among Latino adolescents, including those who speak English as a second language. Furthermore, reading attitudes has predicted reading comprehension growth among certain populations, although the mechanisms behind this relationship are unclear. This study theorizes that reading attitudes promotes reading development by facilitating incidental vocabulary acquisition through increased reader engagement and implicit strategy use. Therefore, this study also extends the literature by determining whether reading attitudes predicts vocabulary growth from September to June of ninth grade. Participants were 128 ninth grade students in a low-income, predominantly Latino high school. 24% spoke English only (EO), 26% were from Spanish-speaking homes but had been determined to be initially fluent-English-proficient (I-FEP) at enrollment, 21% were classified as &ldquo;true&rdquo; English learners (ELs) who had not yet attained proficiency in English, and 29% were former English learners who had been redesignated fluent-English-proficient (R-FEP). Reading attitudes were assessed using an adapted form of the Elementary Reading Attitudes Survey (ERAS), which contains both recreational (ERAS-R) and academic (ERAS-A) reading subscales. In a hierarchical regression analysis (HRA), the ERAS-R independently predicted reading comprehension after controlling for language group, vocabulary, and word reading ability (i.e., decoding, word recognition, and fluency). No language group interactions were detected. In a second HRA, the ERAS-R predicted students&rsquo; vocabulary at the end of ninth grade after controlling for language group, prior vocabulary achievement, and word reading ability. However, reading attitudes only predicted vocabulary development for EO and R-FEP students, while no effect was present for I-FEP children and &ldquo;true&rdquo; ELs. </p>

<p> The purpose of this study is to determine the reading and math outcomes of randomly selected majority culture students participating in an elective, parent choice, full academic content area Spanish Immersion Program kindergarten through fifth-grade compared to randomly selected same school control majority culture students participating in a traditional academic content area English only program kindergarten through fifth-grade. Study results indicate that posttest ending third-grade NWEA MAP-Reading Test Scores <i> M</i> = 196.02 (<i>SD</i> = 46.18) compared to post-posttest ending fifth-grade NWEA MAP-Reading Test Scores <i>M</i> = 227.07 (<i>SD</i> = 9.58) following kindergarten through fifth-grade participation in an elective, parent choice, full academic content area Spanish Immersion Program was statistically significantly different rejecting the null hypothesis in the direction of improved NWEA MAP-Reading Test Scores where dependent <i> t</i>(39) = 4.05, <i>p</i> &lt; .001 (two-tailed), <i> ES</i> = 1.11. Furthermore, posttest ending third-grade NWEA MAP-Math Test Scores <i>M</i> = 197.42 (<i>SD</i> = 46.22) compared to post-posttest ending fifth-grade NWEA MAP-Math Test Scores <i>M</i> = 238.72 (<i>SD</i> = 14.70) following kindergarten through fifth-grade participation in an elective, parent choice, full academic content area Spanish Immersion Program was statistically significantly different rejecting the null hypothesis in the direction of improved NWEA MAP-Math Test Scores where dependent <i>t</i>(39) = 4.99, <i>p</i> &lt; .0001 (two-tailed), <i> ES</i> = 1.35. Students who participated in a traditional standard of care academic content area English only program serving as a control group also made statistically significant reading and math gains over time. Between group post-posttest ending fifth-grade NWEA MAP-Reading Test Scores for students in an elective, parent choice, full academic content area Spanish Immersion Program compared to post-posttest ending fifth-grade NWEA MAP-Reading Test Scores for students in a traditional standard of care academic content area English only program were statistically significantly different rejecting the null hypothesis in the direction of greater post-posttest NWEA MAP-Reading Test Scores for students in an elective, parent choice, full academic content area Spanish Immersion Program where independent <i>t</i>(78) = 3.22, <i>p</i> &lt; .01 (two-tailed), <i>ES</i> = 0.73. However, the null hypothesis was not rejected for the between group post-posttest NWEA MAP-Math Test Scores comparison indicating statistical equipoise where independent <i>t</i>(78) = 1.63, <i>p</i> = .107 (two-tailed), <i> ES</i> = 0.40. It is clear from the study results that students participating in the programs of this research are making significant academic progress as measured by norm-referenced reading and math test results over time, third-grade to fifth-grade. It is also remarkable that students who are learning basic skills at the elementary level in a second language, Spanish, are doing so at an observed above grade level pace suggesting that they will be ready for middle school English and math coursework with an advanced promise of success in future second language, Spanish, coursework as well.</p>

<p> This qualitative case study examined the everyday life activities of 16 young people living in NiNi status in Mexico City. The term NiNi comes from the Spanish words Ni estudia, Ni trabaja [neither study, nor work]. The purpose of the study was to better understand their everyday life experience, their meaning-making and learning processes, and their impediments to their development. The conceptual framework is grounded in the perspective of performance of the CHAT tradition that examines the processes that are constitutive of who these individuals are and who they are becoming (Holzman, 2009). The researcher analyzed the everyday life activities of 16 individuals in NiNi status and 12 working adults to conduct a historical comparison.</p><p> The study identified five main findings associated to the research questions. First, young people in NiNI status perform a variety of activities, mainly non-remunerated, such as household chores, taking care of children, performing arts and sports, and temporary work in low-level and informal jobs. Second, meaning-making processes reveal that they feel trapped in "a system of not progressing". They live in a continuous paradox of not having resources to do what they want to do. The negative labels that society puts on them makes them feel inferior and excluded. Third, young people learn by creative imitation when they create zones of proximal development in collaboration with their networks. Fourth, the lack of opportunities at school and work creates a movement away from institutions that reinforces the informality in the Mexican labor market. Fifth, the main impediment to their learning and development is their isolation that does not allow them to learn from more expert people's key skills to foster their economic independence and future integration as productive members of society.</p><p> A major contribution of this study is to bring the perspectives of these young people to balance the negative views that society has about people living in NiNi status. Their voices reveal the need for greater opportunities and support to "level the playing field" and to overcome cultural and historical limitations faced by these young people. The current worldview wrongly positions the "problem" at the individual level and not at the group or societal level. </p>

<p>Latinas/os represent the largest ethnic group in California and are under-represented in higher education. Latina/o student college completion rates are the lowest of any racial or ethnic group, including Whites. This study used a critical race theoretical lens to explore the experiences of 14 Latina/o community college students who were pushed out of the transfer path. Storytelling served as the foundation of this study to understand and give voice to Latina/o students' transfer path experiences. Interview data from all participants were analyzed to extract codes and develop themes within the stories. Demographic surveys were evaluated to identify student characteristics. </p><p> Findings revealed that Latina/o students were pushed out of the transfer path at four critical points: Students were pushed out as they found themselves on academic or progress probation, resulting in conditional financial aid suspensions. Some students became discouraged as they figured out the amount of courses necessary to become transfer ready. Other students attempted to transition to transferable coursework, but they were unable to pass developmental math courses. Students also reported being pushed out as they learned about the immense amount of transfer requirements, program options, and costs, which created transfer information paralysis. </p><p> Latina/o students reported feeling emotional relief after being pushed out of the transfer pathway. Earning an associate's degree or certificate was an achievable goal and students felt a sense of academic accomplishment. Students also believed that an associate's degree was a "stepping stone" on their journey through the educational pipeline. </p><p> Students noted race, class, and gender stereotyped experiences that adversely affected their transfer path experiences. Negative perceptions about their race impacted their academic performance. Erratic and limited resources-including suspension from financial aid-proved harmful to their ability to remain on the transfer path. Gender role expectations obstructed Latina women and propelled Latino men on the transfer pathway. </p><p> The findings suggest that Latina/o students were disadvantaged by community college policies and procedures. Yet, they remained committed to their educational goals. Further investigation of Latina/o student community college experiences is necessary to develop policies, procedures, and practices that will serve to strengthen their educational pathways. </p>

<p>While research on undocumented students and access to higher education is of growing concern, it is equally important to examine mixed citizenship status families. Mixed citizenship status families are families that consist of both documented and undocumented members. Passel and Cohn explain that the number of U.S.-born children in mixed citizenship status families has shown significant growth in recent years, from 2.7 million children in 2004 to 4 million in 2008. </p><p> This study utilizes Bronfenbrenner' s Ecological Systems Theory as a lens to examine the different experiences that members in these families experience through their schooling and in accessing higher education. </p><p> This qualitative comparative case study examined the experiences of three Southern Californian families, consisting of one undocumented student in higher education, undocumented parents, and at least one documented student currently attending high school. This study examined, compared, and contrasted the experiences of 14 different participants and their schooling experiences. </p><p> Major findings in this study revealed that being in a mixed citizenship status family affects different relationship factors and experiences that ultimately impact the documented and undocumented individuals psychologically and academically. Such experiences have the potential of impacting their schooling experience and access to higher education. In this study, changes in policy have had ripple effects that are experienced by youth in very personal ways that have impacted their development and access to higher education. The study revealed that, whether documented or undocumented, all members experienced psychological effects that have affected their access to higher education. </p><p> Findings in this study discovered the impact of changes in policy, how mixed citizenship status families affect the educational trajectories for all members of the family, parental involvement in school, the psychological stressors that affect documented siblings, as well as undocumented, and the ways in which documented siblings may defer their own college experiences in order to keep a pace with their siblings among other findings. </p><p> This study concludes with recommendations for policy and practitioners in the educational field, including suggestions for a more comprehensive immigration policy to include citizenship access for undocumented students and their parents, improvements in the enforcement of labor laws, and professional development for teaching educators about the mixed citizenship status family, promoting home to school relationships, and supplying these families with resources to navigate and widen the pipeline into higher education. </p>

<p>Almost one-third of the students attending public high schools in the United States dropout of school each year with Hispanic students being a significant percentage of the students failing to graduate. While, this is a national problem, there is a variation in the rates in which specific ethnic/racial groups are dropping out of school with Hispanics (36.5%) dropping out at a higher rate than Asian (8.6%) and White (19%) students. This study analyzes the group difference between Latino students' educational aspirations and academic achievement during eighth and 10^th grade, as well as gender difference in aspiration level. </p><p> The findings of this study assessing the relationship of educational aspirations and academic achievement of Latino students who are participants of GEAR UP yielded varying results. The educational aspirations of the GEAR UP Latino students during eighth and 10^th grade showed a growth in the variable over time. Further, the educational aspirations and the academic achievement of the student participants produced relationships of significance during the students' eighth grade year, but not during their 10^th grade year. It was found during eighth grade, participants with educational aspirations of a bachelor's or master's degree had better academic outcomes, based on California Standard Test (CST) performance, than student participants with higher educational aspirations of a professional degree (i.e., medical, law). This was not the case for 10^th grade findings, which yielded non-significant results between academic achievement and educational aspiration after the transition to high school. Next, when analyzing aspiration level based on gender, there was no significant relationship, which may be attributed to the programming of GEAR UP. Lastly, a regression analysis to assess the predictability of 10^th grade GPA was reviewed using the independent variables eighth grade GPA, CST performance, and educational aspiration. The analysis showed eighth grade GPA had the strongest relationship to 10^th GPA. </p><p> These findings suggest there are factors beyond educational aspirations contributing to student persistence and academic achievement in high school, with eighth grade GPA having the strongest relationship to 10^th grade GPA. Based on this, the perception students have about their possible education attainment level may be developed based upon educational experiences from middle school. Therefore, student's relationships, self-efficacy beliefs, and academic performance in this period of the educational pipeline are critical for educational attainment levels beyond high school. </p>

<p> <i>Reading Home from Exile: Narratives of Belonging in Western Literature </i> analyzes the way in which narratives of belonging arise from Western literary works that have been largely read as works of exile. This dissertation insists on the importance of the concept of home even in the light of much of the theoretical criticism produced in the last fifty years which turns to concepts that emphasize movement, rootlessness, homelessness, and difference. Through readings of Western literature spanning from canonical ancient Greek texts to Mexican novels of the revolution and to Chicano/a literature, this study shows that literature continues to dwell on the question of home and that much of the literature of exile is an attempt to narrate home. Beginning with a close reading of <i>Oedipus the King</i> and <i>Oedipus at Colonus,</i> the first chapter discusses Oedipus's various moments of exile and the different spheres of belonging (biological/familial, social, political) that emerge through a close reading of these moments of exile. Chapter 2 examines these same categories of belonging in Mauricio Magdaleno's <i> El resplandor,</i> an <i>indigenista</i> novel set in post-revolutionary Mexico about the trials and tribulations of the Otomi town of San Andres. Chapter 3 continues to consider literature that takes Revolutionary and post-revolutionary Mexico as setting and analyzes the narratives of belonging that arise in Juan Rulfo's <i>Pedro P&aacute;ramo</i> and Elena Garro's <i>Recollections of Things to Come.</i> Finally, Chapter 4 analyzes the emergence of these categories of home in Chicano/a literature and thought, focusing on Gloria Anzaldua's<i> Borderlands/La Frontera</i> and its relation to Homi Bhabha's concept of hybridity and to postcolonial theory in general. </p>

<p> The premise of this research is to consider Pierre Bourdieu's social and cultural capital theoretical framework to analyze the life experiences of Mexican American high school students. This qualitative study examined the perceptions of two administrators, four counselors, three students, and three parents regarding the influence of social and cultural capital on student engagement. Three of the participants were first-generation working class Hispanic students with aspirations to attend a four-year university. The participants were interviewed through a semistructured interview protocol to identify what sources of capital are the most useful in creating better educational opportunities for Mexican American students. This qualitative study used a narrative inquiry design to gather data from the participants. This design allowed for the gathering of "authentic voices" of Mexican American students and those who work with them. This study validates the important role of social and cultural capital acquired at home and at school, and the needed access to quality resources and meaningful relationships. The finding and limitations reviewed in this study bring awareness to the need for social and cultural capital resources to improve social outcomes for low-income Hispanic students. Based on the data findings, recommendations are made for school counselors and Hispanic students.</p>

<p> This qualitative dissertation study explores the various roles and practices that classroom teachers can enact in their work to increase the college going rates of working-class Latina/o youth. Utilizing Stanton-Salazar's (2011) <i> empowerment social capital</i> theoretical framework, this study examined the role and identity development, practices, and challenges of 14 classroom teachers whose college-focused work aimed to increase their students' <i> social capital</i>, resources, and opportunities for higher education. In addition, it also examined those cases when educators extended their work to actively counter the inequitable schooling conditions and structures facing working-class Latina/o youth (i.e., <i>empowerment agents</i>). Utilizing interviews, document collection, and journal responses, some of the emerging themes included: the role that teachers' personal identities play in their practices for college access and social justice, the lack of funding and resources for students' college planning prompting educators' efforts, and the various challenging schooling structures and policies testing teacher sustainability. Policy and practice recommendations aim to increase the development of resource-generating and empowering relationships between working-class Latina/o youth and their teachers, as well as to develop structures and environments required for teacher sustainability. Recommendations for further research are also provided.</p>