Call number: LD2668 .T4 1951 A57 / Master of Science

This study supports the development of the Attributions for Scholastic Outcomes Scale--Latino (ASO-L). Previous research has shown that people believe that it is important to close the achievement gaps that exist between racial/ethnic minorities and Whites (Rose & Gallup, 2004). Despite the fact that the general public has taken an interest in this area, there are currently no instruments for measuring how people reason about these issues. Consequently, there is little knowledge as to why people continue to support policies that have been unsuccessful in bringing racial/ethnic minority academic performance up to the level of Whites. This study takes steps in that direction by providing educators and school reform advocates with a useful instrument for understanding how people reason about the causes for the Latino-White achievement gap. The ASO-L measures the extent to which people believe in two different explanations for the Latino-White achievement gap. I have termed the explanation that I believe is most pervasive in US society "culture-blaming." It is consistent with the dominant racial story about Latino underachievement, which focuses primarily on the presumed limitations of Latino families and Latino culture. I refer to what I believe to be the second most common explanation as "structure-blaming." It challenges the dominant racial story because it places blame on schools and the schooling system rather than the limitations of Latinos. Confirmatory factor analyses provide evidence for the factorial validity of the ASO-L. In addition, structural equation modeling performed on sample data indicates that the two primary explanations--culture-blaming and structure-blaming--are meaningfully related to attitudes towards resource redistribution, English-only initiatives, parent education, and standardized testing above and beyond what can be accounted for by measures of attributional complexity (G. Fletcher, Danilovics, Fernandez, Peterson, & Reeder, 1986) and political orientation (Kerlinger, 1984). Finally, a comparison of latent means revealed that Latinos are more likely than Whites to endorse structure-blaming attributions, but no less likely to endorse culture-blaming attributions. Recommendations for further research and academic activism are included. / text

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Thesis (M.A.)--University of Notre Dame, 2004. / Thesis directed by William Carbonaro for the Department of Sociology. "April 2004." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 35-42).

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This study examined the institutional articulation patterns among three different levels of educational institutions: high school, two-year college, and four-year university. The purpose of the study was to determine if there were differences between articulation patterns which affected students in general and articulation patterns which specifically affected Mexican American students to pursue higher education. This study was also concerned with determining whether such articulation patterns were hindering or encouraging the enrollment of Mexican American students at The University of Arizona. The methodologial approach of the study was a descriptive research design and included the use of questionnaires and interviews. The sampling methodology used was double stratified random sampling which took into account: (1) three participating educational institutions and (2) sampling a portion of the personnel at the three institutions and students at the four-year university. The sample consisted of: (1) 45 randomly selected personnel involved in articulation activities in three educational areas (administrative, curricular, and student services) at three different institutional levels: senior high school district, community college, and four-year university, and (2) 15 randomly selected first-year students at the four-year university. An open-ended questionnaire was developed for the personnel sample. The articulation practices identified from this questionnaire were classified into specific categories for the purpose of developing a second questionnaire for interviewing the student respondents. Descriptive data were collected, presented, and discussed. Tabulation of percentages and frequencies were studied, interpreted, and presented in 20 tables and six figures. There were 455 articulation activities identified. These were classified into 25 different articulation categories. Two different articulation systems were reported: one directed to all students and another for Mexican American students. The findings strongly suggest that insufficient articulation efforts are in existence. Curricular personnel were found to be doing the least articulating efforts to help all students and specifically Mexican American students. Based on the results of this study, various recommendations were made. There is a need for better interinstitutional planning to provide continuum that will allow more access to post-secondary education for Mexican American students.

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