Are we bold enough to recognize our own excellence in our schools and communities? This question drives Intentional Excellence, an audacious attempt at developing a Pedagogy of Excellence in Latina/o schools and communities as a result of observations, insights, and lessons learned from work with schools and communities across the United States. Louie F. Rodríguez argues that while there is no shortage of excellence in some of the schools and communities that struggle the most, there is a pedagogical void, or an Excellence Paradox, that has disallowed excellence from being used as a potential tool to transform the culture of education. This book offers an additive framework for committed stakeholders and outlines six key observations including the contagious nature of excellence, excellence as a responsibility, the political viability of excellence, the additive possibilities of excellence, the role of excellence as a curricular and pedagogical tool, and the role of excellence in working toward equity and social justice in education. Rodríguez discusses a series of case studies that have used Excellence Campaigns to organize, define, and recognize their own excellence. The book also discusses the possibilities of excellence beyond education and proposes a new role in education to make excellence happen: Excellence Engineers. The book concludes with a theory of action that is necessary for excellence to thrive in the twenty-first century. Our children and communities deserve to see themselves as «models of excellence» and this book proposes a pedagogy to help get us there.

There are an estimated forty-eight million Latinas/os living in the United States, roughly sixteen percent of the population. Not only are they the largest minority group in the country but also the youngest: one out of five children is Latina/o. The rise in the Latina/o population has caused for panic in some areas of the country, resulting in hostile and sometimes violent racism and xenophobia, and yet, much of that hatred is fueled not on facts but rather on myths about immigration.To date, most studies on immigration have been data driven, focusing on migrating groups or policy analyses. Latina/o Hope is different. It incorporates salient theories on migration as it moves toward a new theorizing, one that views immigration from the immigrant's perspective. Thus, it integrates research into the depiction of various slices of immigrant experience―the young women disappearing in the city of Juarez, the various students at various stages of their educational journeys, the young children in need of ESL programs, the ethnically-mixed immigrants, the undocumented workers, and others. Latina/o Hope discusses the impact of neoliberal policies and global capitalization on the daily lives of Latina/o immigrants, serving as an inspiration for dialogue, praxis and imagination to love and serve one another.

Product Description: This volume brings together the latest research and scholarship on Latinos in the United States. This book is special in terms of the broad scope of topics covered and methodologies employed in pursuit of knowledge about Latino students...read more

This text provides an overview of bi- and multilingualism as a worldwide phenomenon. It features comprehensive discussions of many of the linguistic, social, political, and educational issues found in an increasingly multilingual nation and world. To this end, the book takes the Chicano-Latino community of Southern California, where Spanish-English bilingualism has over a century and a half of history, and presents a detailed case study, thereby situating the community in a much broader social context. Spanish is the second most-widely spoken language in the U.S. after English, yet, for the most part, its speakers form a language minority that essentially lacks the social, political, and educational support necessary to derive the many cognitive, socioeconomic, and educational benefits that proficient bilingualism can provide. The issues facing Spanish-English bilinguals in the Los Angeles area are relevant to nearly every bi- and multilingual community irrespective of nation, language, and/or ethnicity.