The lessons learned in school are reinforced and applied at home and in the community. Too often, however, the weak learning experiences that many disadvantaged youth have at school are mirrored in their homes and community. Their parents often lack the credentials and skills they are hoping their children will acquire. Poor youths are more likely than their non-poor peers to have parents who have not completed high school. Research has shown us that parent's education level remains one of the strongest predictors of their children's success in school.
Poverty breeds poverty.
School achievement breeds school achievement. If many of us were raised in poverty by parents who did not even make it into high school, then there is hope for those who are caught in a social, educational and economic treadmill. I would like to offer some ideas for better understanding our plight - what needs to be set in place or repaired within a cultural context. When I was first approached about the topic of Hispanics and educational applications for the 90s, I immediately thought of my mother, who constantly reminded me as I was growing up what it meant to be a persona educada , an educated person. When she would refer to an educated person, she was talking about a person of character, of integrity - a person who upheld high standards for himself or herself and for others.