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##  High-Performing Schools Serving Mexican American Students: What They            Can Teach Us. ERIC Digest.                                                   

In a recent study along the Texas-Mexico border (Reyes, Scribner, &             Paredes Scribner, 1999) we reported the characteristics of                      successful schools where the student population was mostly Mexican              American, from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and where a high                  percentage of the students were limited English proficient. Based on            our study, we concluded that conditions of failure for Mexican                  American students need not exist. This Digest reviews the findings              of our study and others, to discover what such research can teach us            about creating schools that better support the success of Mexican               American students. STUDYING HIGH-PERFORMING SCHOOLS SERVING                   MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDENTSThe method employed to select the                  schools we studied was a purposive sample. Three elementary schools,            three middle schools, and three high schools were selected on the               basis of the following criteria: (1) school enrollment of 66.6% or              more Mexican American students; (2) schools with above-average                  standardized test scores on the Texas state assessment system;                  and (3) schools that had received state and national recognition.               After a review of the literature to identify "best practices," a                pilot study was conducted in two similar schools. Following the                 field work phase, data analysis and interpretation were carried out             by research teams trained in multicultural research, qualitative                analysis, and interpretation techniques. 
We discovered that                   high-performing schools serving Mexican Americans were very similar             to other successful schools. Like effective schools in urban                    communities (Edmonds, 1979), these schools were typically                       characterized as communities of learners where students came first,             teachers set high expectations for all their students, and                      instruction was interactive and student-centered rather than                    teacher-centered. Research elsewhere has shown that in                          high-performing schools, teachers empowered students to become                  excited about and responsible for their own learning (Blase & Blase,            1994). Additionally, we found that effective schools for Mexican                American students shared a vision for all students. Above all, as               Valencia (1997) also reported, such schools ignored the barriers to             learning often associated with "deficit thinking." 
The                        high-performing schools serving Mexican Americans we studied were               not only true communities of learners, they differed from other                 successful schools in at least four areas: 
1.  the way they                   addressed community and family involvement, 
2. how they built a               collaborative school governance system, 
3.  their commitment to               connecting curricula and instructional techniques to students' funds            of knowledge and cultural backgrounds, and 
4.  how they used                  advocacy-oriented assessment practices that held educators                      accountable for their instructional strategies and for the impact               they had on Mexican American learners. 
The balance of this Digest             briefly discusses these four areas of distinction. This discussion              may help point the way to creating high-performing schools for                  Mexican Americans in other parts of the country, encouraging                    communities to seek innovative solutions to what, in the past, may              have seemed like intractable problems. COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS            WITH PARENTS AND COMMUNITIES"Parent involvement" often means                something different to educators than it does to Mexican American               parents. Further, differences in family structure, culture, ethnic              background, and school experiences can lead to interpretations                  within the Mexican American community that are quite different from             those of other minority parents. Mexican Americans tend to value                parental involvement in schools when they see their activities                  enhancing the school environment for their children (Delgado-Gaitan,            1991). They are likely to become more involved when school staff                show concern for their child. School staff, on the other hand,                  generally understand parent involvement to be efforts aimed at                  increasing student achievement. In the schools we studied, we                   observed staff using the following strategies to increase parent                involvement: 
*  building on cultural values of Mexican American               parents 
*  stressing personal contact with parents 
*  fostering             communication with parents 
*  creating a warm environment for                 parents 
*  facilitating structural accommodations for parent                  involvement 
School staff also were aware of their responsibilities            to meet the needs of diverse populations. Those needs often extended            beyond purely educational concerns, requiring involvement in the                community. Best practices in community involvement address health,              safety, and economic issues. 
School staff who originate from                  outside the Mexican American community may need additional                      professional development to interact effectively with the Mexican               American community. As Villanueva and Hubbard (1994) observed,                  honoring culturally relevant values such as respect, informal small             talk, and personal contact are important in building                            school-community relationships. Professional development that                   extends to the community should include an understanding of how                 economic, class, racial, and political factors interact in the                  community and the school. When educators proactively learn about the            communities they serve, they are better prepared to provide learning            opportunities that extend beyond the school's walls (Lopez,                     Scribner, & Mahitivanichcha, 2001; Scribner, Young, & Pedroza,                  1999). COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIPCollaborative               governance and leadership in effective schools serving Mexican                  American students did not seem to be driven by state-mandated                   accountability measures. Educators held themselves accountable,                 however, believing that all children can learn and that it was their            responsibility to make it happen (Scribner & Reyes, 1999).                      Communication and collaboration were considered top priorities.                 Participation in site-based management teams and coordinated                    planning and communication made teachers feel involved and valued.              In the area of governance, these successful schools shared several              attributes: 
*  a clear, coherent vision and mission shared by the             school community 
*  collaborative administrators who modeled their            dedication and vision 
*  humanistic leadership philosophies 
*               empowerment of professional staff 
*  current and appropriate                  professional development 
*  an ethic of caring 
*  the belief                that all students can succeed 
*  an emphasis on                               accountability 
*  a culture of innovation STUDENT-CENTERED                  CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENTSIn general, the high-performing schools we            observed were open, friendly, and culturally inviting. Students were            allowed and encouraged to interact with one another and to engage in            collaborative learning activities. We observed a variety of                     instructional approaches. In fact, there is no identifiable, easily             transferable program to recommend. Instead, successful schools and              teachers seemed to do "what it takes" to help students succeed. This            meant teachers worked together to identify learning experiences that            would benefit students. 
For students whose English was limited,               coordinated English language instruction was requisite to success.              In the regular classroom, as Moll and Gonzalez (1994) observed, we              saw teachers provide assistance in Spanish whenever it seemed such              assistance would aid learning. At times, this was done on a formal              daily basis; other times spontaneously, as the need arose. 
In                 summary, factors contributing to student-centered classroom                     environments for Mexican American students included 
*  teachers               who accepted full responsibility for helping students 
*  teachers             who were extremely caring and nurturing to students 
*  consistent,            productive, and intensive collaboration among teachers 
*  the                 encouragement of collaborative learning 
*  student access to a                wide variety of learning materials 
*  utilization of both Spanish             and English, as needed, to enhance learning ADVOCACY-ORIENTED                 ASSESSMENT PRACTICESStudents whose first language is not English            often run the risk of being referred for special services.                      High-performing schools serving Mexican American students were                  cautious about referring students prematurely. Prereferral systems              were in place for students who experienced academic problems,                   including instructional modifications, team planning and teaching,              intensive English as a second language (ESL) instruction, and the               use of ESL-certified classroom teachers. Language assessments were              done with care. For example, teachers recognized that a student new             to this country needed an adjustment period, to avoid misplacement              in special education. 
Intensive language development, team                    planning/teaching, and coordination of instruction were strategies              consistently employed for the benefit of students. Finally, the                 high-performing schools we observed shared a philosophy that                    stressed collaboration and familiarity with ESL student needs, which            resulted in an advocacy-oriented approach to assessment (Paredes                Scribner, 1995). SUMMARYDuring the last two decades, our                  research and the research of others have produced extensive                     information on effective schools (Beck & Murphy, 1996; Edmonds,                 1979; Garcia, 1999). In general, we have learned that in effective              schools serving Mexican American students, teachers have high                   expectations for student achievement; teachers also emphasize the               development and acquisition of literacy skills throughout the                   content areas to enhance language and cognitive development. The                school climate is one that is conducive to learning, and one in                 which cultural diversity is celebrated. Regular feedback is provided            to parents so monitoring student progress becomes a goal for                    teachers and parents. 
Teaching practices alone do not make                    effective schools, however. Like earlier effective schools studies,             recent research confirms the importance of organizational variables,            such as inclusive leadership that creates a sense of community,                 drawing everyone into the learning process and preventing alienation            of any stakeholders, be they faculty, students, parents, or the                 larger Mexican American community. REFERENCESBeck, L. G., &               Murphy, J. (1996). The four imperatives of a successful school.                 Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service            No. ED 399 681) 
Blase, J., & Blase, J. R. (1994). Empowering                  teachers: What successful principals do. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin              Press. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 377                           576) 
Delgado-Gaitan, C. (1991). Involving parents in schools: A               process of empowerment. American Journal of Education, 100(1),                  20-46. 
Edmonds, R. (1979). Effective schools for the urban poor.              Educational Leadership, 37(1), 15-24. 
Garcia, E. (1999). Student              cultural diversity: Understanding and meeting the challenge. 2nd                edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 
Lopez, G. R., Scribner, J.                 D., & Mahitivanichcha, K. (2001). Redefining parental involvement:              Lessons from high-performing migrant-impacted schools. American                 Educational Research Journal 38(2), 253-88. 
Moll, L. C., &                    Gonzalez, N. (1994). Lessons from research with language-minority               children. Journal of Reading Behavior, 26(4), 439-56. 
Paredes                 Scribner, A. (1995). Advocating for Hispanic high school students:              Research-based educational practices. High School Journal, 78(4),               206-14. 
Reyes, P., Scribner, J. D., & Paredes Scribner,                       A. (Eds.). (1999). Lessons from high-performing Hispanic schools:               Creating learning communities. Critical issues in educational                   leadership series. Williston, VT: Teachers College Press. (ERIC                 Document Reproduction Service No. ED 440 794) 
Scribner, J. D., &              Reyes, P. (1999). Creating learning communities for high-performing             Hispanic students: A conceptual framework. In Reyes, P., Scribner,              J. D., & Paredes Scribner, A. (Eds.), Lessons from high-performing              Hispanic schools: Creating learning communities (pp. 188-210).                  Williston, VT: Teachers College Press. 
Scribner, J. D., Young, M.             D., & Pedroza, A. (1999). Building collaborative relationships with             parents. In Reyes, P., Scribner, J. D., & Paredes Scribner,                     A. (Eds.), Lessons from high performing Hispanic schools: Creating              learning communities (pp. 36-60). Williston, VT: Teachers College               Press. 
Valencia, R. (Ed.). (1997). The evolution of deficit                   thinking: Educational thought and practice. Austin: The University              of Texas. 
Villanueva, I., & Hubbard, L. (1994, April). Toward                 redefining parent involvement: Making parents' invisible strategies             and cultural practices visible. Paper presented at the annual                   meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New                   Orleans. 
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Alicia Paredes Scribner is Associate Professor of            School Psychology and Director of the School Psychology Program at              Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. 
Jay D.                    Scribner is McIntyre Professor for Excellence in School Leadership              and Chair of the Department of Educational Administration, The                  University of Texas at Austin in Austin, TX. 
This publication was             prepared with funding from the Office of Educational Research and               Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under contract no.                   ED-99-CO-0027. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily                 reflect the positions or policies of OERI, the Department, or AEL.           **Title:** High-Performing Schools Serving Mexican American Students: What They            Can Teach Us. ERIC Digest.                                                   **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC/CRESS, P.O. Box 1348, Charleston, WV 25325-1348; Tel:                      800-624-9120 (Toll Free). For full text:                                        http://www.ael.org/eric/digests/edorc01_4.htm.                               **Descriptors:** Classroom Environment, Culturally Relevant Education,  Educational              Practices, Elementary Secondary Education,  Hispanic American                   Students,  Institutional Characteristics, Limited English Speaking,              Mexican American Education, Mexican Americans, Participative                   Decision Making, School Community Relationship,  School Effectiveness        **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests, Mexico United States Border, Texas                             
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