Since the 1960s and in reaction to its increasing popularity within Latino populations in the U.S., mariachi has become a common component of curriculum-based music courses in a growing number of public schools. Even though one of the principal purposes for the existence of mariachi programs is to improve students’ academic performance, music scholars have yet to address how mariachi education encourages higher academic achievement. On the other hand, anthropological educators argue that children underperform in school due to cultural difference or cultural mismatch; therefore, it is necessary to incorporate the cultural heritage of students into the curricula for academic success. The purpose of this study is to gain an increased understanding of the impact of mariachi programs on high school students' experiences and academic achievement and look for the relationship between achievement and cultural identity. This study examines two mariachi programs in the Tucson Unified School District as microcosms within the larger mariachi community in Tucson. In this interdisciplinary study, I use both ethnomusicology and anthropology of education as frameworks. I argue that students enrolled in the two mariachi programs are re-creating their cultural identities in response to the sociocultural context of the music education in the United States. This process of identity formation allows them to move more smoothly from one setting to another in their family, peer, and school worlds. The interrelationship between students and their peers, parents, and teachers facilitates their academic achievement.

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