Promoting Academic Success Among Latino Youth

This article describes results from the Oregon Latino Youth Survey, which was designed to identify factors that promoted or hindered academic success for Latino middle- and high-school youngsters. The study samples included a total of 564 Latino and non-Latino students and parents. Analyses showed that Latino students reported a high frequency of discriminatory experiences and institutional barriers at school, and that they and their parents were more likely to experience institutional barriers compared to non-Latinos. Further, Latino students and parents reported that they/their youngsters were more likely to dropout of school compared to non-Latinos. Path models showed lower acculturation and more institutional barriers were related to less academic success for Latino students. More parent academic encouragement and staff extracurricular encouragement were associated with better academic outcomes for Latino students. Finally, family socioeconomic disadvantage had an indirect effect on Latino youngster academic success, through effects on parent monitoring and school involvement.