This study examines the effects of spatial concentration of Puerto Ricans on the likelihood of high school attrition among Puerto Rican adolescents. Using data from the 1990 U.S. Census of Population and Housing, Public Use Microdata Sample B, we found that neighborhoods with very high concentrations of Puerto Ricans did significantly increase the risk of high school attrition among adolescent Puerto Ricans regardless of family background and other relevant characteristics. We also found important differences by gender.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Astone, N. M., & McLanahan, S. (1991). Family structure, parental practices and high school completion. American Sociological Review, 56, 309-320.
2.
Crane, J. (1991). The epidemic theory of ghettos and neighborhood effects on dropping out and teenage childbearing. American Journal of Sociology, 96, 1226-1259.
3.
DeBlassie, A. M., & DeBlassie, R. R. (1996). Education of Hispanic youth: A cultural lag. Journal of Adolescence, 31, 205-216.
4.
Fernandez, R., & Nielson, F. (1986). Bilingualism and Hispanic scholastic achievement: Some baseline results. Social Science Research, 15, 276-282.
5.
Fernandez, R., Paulsen, R., & Hirano-Nakanishi, M. (1989). Dropping out among Hispanic youth. Social Science Research, 18, 21-52.
6.
Fitzpatrick, J. (1987). Puerto Rican Americans: The meaning of migration to the mainland (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
7.
Flores, R.J.O. (1999). Recent immigrants in New York State in 1990. In T. Hirschl & T. Heaton (Eds.), New York State in the 21st century. Westport, CT: Green- wood.
8.
Hirschl, T. (1999). The significance of education in an era of labor market hardship. In T. Hirschl & T. Heaton (Eds.), New York State in the 21st century. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
9.
Jordan, W., Lara, J., & McPartland, J. (1996). Exploring the causes of early drop-out among race-ethnic and gender groups. Youth and Society, 28, 62-94.
10.
Kao, G., & Tienda, M. (1995). Occupation and optimism: The educational performance of immigrant youth. Social Science Quarterly, 76, 1-19.
11.
Kavanaugh, P., & Retish, P. (1991). The Mexican American ready for college. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 19, 136-144.
12.
Krein, S. F., & Beller, A. (1998). Educational attainment of children from single parent families: Differences by exposure, gender and race. Demography, 25, 221-232.
13.
Landale, N., & Hauan, S. M. (1992). The family life course of Puerto Rican children. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54, 912-924.
14.
Lobo, A. P., Salvo, J., & Virgin, V. (1995). The newest New Yorkers, 1990-1994. New York: New York City Department of City Planning.
15.
Luker, K. (1996). Dubious conceptions: The politics of teenage pregnancy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
16.
Massey, D., & Denton, N. (1989). Residential segregation of Mexicans, Cubans and Puerto Ricans in selected U.S. metropolitan areas. Sociology and Social Research, 73, 73-83.
17.
Ogbu, J. (1978). Minority education and caste: The American system in cross cultural perspective. New York: Academic Press.
18.
Portes, A., & MacLeod, D. (1996). Educational progress of children of immigrants: The roles of class, ethnicity and school context. Sociology of Education, 69, 255-275.
19.
Portes, A., & Zhou, M. (1993). The new second generation: Segmented assimilation and its variants. Annals of the Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 530, 74-96.
20.
Rivera-Batiz, F., & Santiago, C. (1996). Island paradox: Puerto Rico in the 1990s. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
21.
Rodriguez, C. (1991). Puerto Ricans: Born in the USA. New York: Westview.
22.
Rong, X. L., & Grant, L. (1992). Ethnicity, generation and school attainment of Hispanics, Asians and NonHispanic Whites. Sociological Quarterly, 33, 625-636.
23.
Rumberger, R. (1983). Dropping out of high school: The influence of race, sex and family background. American Educational Research Journal, 20, 199-220.
24.
Rumberger, R. (1987). High school dropouts: A review of issues and evidence. Review of Educational Research, 57, 101-121.
25.
Salvo, J., Ortiz, R., & Lobo, A. P. (1994). Puerto Rican New Yorkers in 1990. New York: New York City Department of City Planning.
26.
Tucker, C. J., Marx, J., & Long, L. (1998). Moving on: Residential mobility and children's school lives. Sociology of Education, 71, 111-129.
27.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (2001). Statistical abstract of the United States, 2000. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
28.
U.S. Census of Population and Housing. (1990). Public use microdata samples U.S.[Machine readable files]. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
29.
Velez, W. (1989). High school attrition among Hispanic and non-Hispanic White youths. Sociology of Education, 62, 119-133.
30.
Wilson, W. J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass and public policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
31.
Wilson, W. J. (1996). When work disappears: The world of the new urban poor. New York: Vintage.
32.
Wojtkiewicz, R. (1993). Simplicity and complexity in the effect of parental structure on high school graduation. Demography, 30, 701-717.
33.
Wojtkiewicz, R., & Donato, K. (1995). Hispanic educational attainment: The effects of family background and nativity. Social Forces, 74, 559-574.
34.
Zsembik, B., & Llanes, D. (1996). Generational differences in educational attainment among Mexican Americans. Social Science Quarterly, 77, 363-374.
