Latinx Education

Education in the New Latino Diaspora: Policy and the Politics of Identity edited by Edmund

T. Hamann, Stanton Wortham, and Enrique G. Murillo Jr.

This edited volume compiles ethnographic case studies examining how Latinx migrants adapt to life in U.S. regions where they have not historically settled, especially in the South and Midwest. The contributors analyze how public schools become central sites for negotiating identity, citizenship, and educational equity. Key chapters explore local responses to demographic change, the politics of bilingual education, and how Latinx families and educators challenge deficit-based narratives imposed by dominant institutional structures.
This source is deeply relevant to the themes of both the course and my individual project. It contextualizes the “new Latino South” as a region of emerging struggle and transformation, highlighting the institutional barriers that Latinx students face in school systems unprepared for their arrival. It also speaks to the importance of culturally responsive pedagogy, grassroots resistance, and the racialization of language and learning—core themes that appear in both my primary source analysis and broader research questions.

Quality Education for Latinos and Latinas: Print and Oral Skills for All Students, K-College

Rita and Marco Portales

In this book, Rita and Marco Portales advocate for educational equity through a combined focus on language development, academic rigor, and cultural responsiveness for Latino students across K-12 and college levels. They argue that Latino students often receive inadequate schooling due to under-resourced programs, low expectations, and culturally unresponsive instruction. The authors call for systemic reform that includes bilingual instruction, teacher preparation, and curriculum inclusive of students' linguistic and cultural assets.
This book strongly informs my understanding of the systemic inequities faced by Latinx students in the U.S. South and beyond. Its emphasis on culturally grounded education aligns with the “funds of knowledge” and culturally relevant pedagogy frameworks I am using. It complements my analysis of oral histories and helps position the education of Latinx youth as both a civil rights and pedagogical issue, central to broader questions of migration, identity, and racial justice in education.