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Examining the Educational Needs of Mexican Youth
TC's Faculty Working Group on Latina/o and Latin American Education will hold a conference on the educational experiences of Mexican youth and their families in the tri-state area on October 2 and 3.
“Our aim in organizing the conference is to incorporate diverse backgrounds and perspectives to gain a fuller picture of Mexican youth and families here in New York and the surrounding area,” said Regina Cortina, Associate Professor of Education and founding member of the Faculty Working Group.
U.S. Census data indicate that Mexicans are New York City’s fastest growing ethnic group. A 2003 study by Francisco Rivera-Batiz, Professor of Economics and Education at TC, showed that New York City’s Mexican population ranked eleventh among major American cities at 186,872, a figure that rivals the size of longstanding Mexican communities like San Diego. Yet, the data also showed that the city’s Mexican inhabitants face serious social and economic challenges: he average educational completion of Mexicans in New York is approximately nine years of schooling, compared to 13 years for New Yorkers overall.
Among the featured speakers will be Kris Gutierrez, Professor and Provost’s Chair at the University of Colorado at Boulder and President-Elect of the American Educational Research Association, who will deliver an address on “The Pedagogical Imagination and Mexican American Youth: Teaching toward Possibility.” Also scheduled is Stella Flores, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Higher Education at Vanderbilt University, who will discuss “State Dream Acts and Latino Immigrant Youth: Public Policy, College Access, and Geography.”
There will also be a roundtable discussion on what we can learn about Mexican Americans and U.S. education from international comparisons. Taking part in the discussion will be Richard Alba, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the Graduate Center, CUNY; Margaret Gibson, Professor of Education and Anthropology, University of California at Santa Cruz; Carola Suárez-Orozco, Professor of Applied Psychology and Co-Director of Immigration Studies, New York University; and Maurice Crul, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies, University of Amsterdam. For programs updates and online free registration to attend the conference please visit www.tc.columbia.edu/latino-ed.
Published Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009
