This action research study, supported by a quantitative data analysis, presents a counternarrative to the deficit discourse regarding Latino/a First Time in Any College (FTIAC) departure during the first year of college. It argues that an intentional learning community model, that is culturally and linguistically responsive to Latino/a student needs, can produce significant gains in first- to second-year retention rates and better predicts retention than either high school grade point average or standardized test scores.
ArbonaC.NoraA. (2007). The influence of academic and environmental factors on Hispanic college degree attainment. The Review of Higher Education, 30, 247-269.
2.
AstinA. W. (1985). Achieving educational excellence. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
3.
AttinasiL. C. (1989). Getting in: Mexican Americans’ perceptions of university attendance and the implications for freshman year persistence. Journal of Higher Education, 60, 247-277.
4.
CervantesC. C. (2008). The impact of learning communities on the retention and academic integration of Latino students at a highly selective private four-year institution (Doctoral dissertation). University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
5.
ChickeringA. W.GamsonZ. (1987). The seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE bulletin, 3, 7.
6.
ConsoliM. L.LlamasJ. D. (2013). The relationship between Mexican American cultural values and resilience among Mexican American college students: A mixed methods study. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60, 617-624. doi:10.1037/a0033998
7.
DonatoR. (1997). The other struggle for equal schools: Mexican-Americans during the Civil Rights era. Albany: State University of New York Press.
8.
FryR.LopezM. H. (2012). Hispanic student enrollments reach new highs in 2011. Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center.
9.
GabelnickF.MacGregorJ.MatthewsR. S.SmithB. L. (1990). Learning communities: Creating connections among students, faculty, and disciplines (New Directions for Teaching and Learning, No. 41). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc.
10.
GándaraP.ContrerasF. (2009). The Latino education crisis: The consequences of failed social policies. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
11.
KuhG. D.O’DonnellK.ReedS. (2013). Ensuring quality & taking high-impact practices to scale. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
12.
LopezJ. D. (2005). Race-related stress and sociocultural orientation among Latino students during their transition into a predominately White, highly selective institution. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 4(4), 354-365.
13.
Minikel-LacocqueJ. (2013). Racism, college and the power of words: Racial microaggressions reconsidered. American Educational Research Journal, 50, 432-465. doi:10.3102/0002831212468048
14.
MusobaG. D.KrichevskiyD. (2014). Early coursework and college experience predictors of persistence at a Hispanic serving institution. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 13, 48-62. doi:10.1177/1538192713513463
15.
NiemannY. F.RomeroA.ArbonaC. (2000). Effects of cultural orientation on the perception of conflict between relationship and education goals for Mexican American college students. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 22, 46-63.
16.
NietoS. (2010). The light in their eyes: Creating multicultural learning communities. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
17.
NoraA. (2003). Access to higher education for Hispanic students: Real or illusory? In CastellanosJ.JonesL. (Eds.), The majority in the minority: Expanding representation of Latino/a faculty, administration and students in higher education (pp. 47–67). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.
18.
NoraA.KraemerB.ItzenR. (1997). Persistence among non-traditional Hispanic college students: A casual case model. Presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Albuquerque, NM. (ED 415 824).
19.
RobbinsS. B.LauverK.LeH.DavisD.LangleyR.CarlstromA. (2004). Do psychological and study skill factors predict college outcomes? A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 261-288. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.2.261
20.
ScribnerJ. D.ReyesP. (1999). Creating learning communities for high-performing Hispanic students: A conceptual framework. In ReyesP.ScribnerJ. D.ScribnerA. P. (Eds.), Lessons from high-performing Hispanic high schools: Creating learning communities (pp. 188-210). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
21.
ShapiroN. S.LevineJ. H. (1999). Creating learning communities: A practical guide to winning support, organizing for change, and implementing programs. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
22.
SpringJ. H. (2012). Deculturalization and the struggle for equality: A brief history of the education of dominated cultures in the United States. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
23.
TeranishsiR. T.BehringerL. B.GreyE. A.ParkerT. L. (2009). Critical race theory and research on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in higher education. New Directions for Institutional Research, 142, 57-68. doi:10.1002/ir.296
24.
TintoV. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
25.
TintoV. (1998). Colleges as communities taking research on student persistence seriously. The Review of Higher Education, 21, 161-177.
26.
TorresV. (2006). A mixed-method study testing data-model fit of a retention model for Latino/a students at urban universities. Journal of College Student Development, 47, 299-318.
27.
ValdesG. (1996). Con respeto: Bridging the distances between culturally diverse families and schools: An ethnographic portrait. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
28.
ValenzuelaA. (1999). Subtractive schooling: U.S. Mexican youth and the politics of caring. New York: State University of New York Press.
29.
WalpoleM.McDonoughP. M.BauerC. J.GibsonC.KanyiK.ToliverR. (2005). This test is unfair: Urban African American and Latino high school students’ perceptions of standardized college admission tests. Urban Education, 40, 321-349.
30.
Wayne State University. (2007). 2007-2008 WSU learning community initiative call for proposals. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Office of Academic Affairs.
31.
YossoT. J.SmithW. A.CejaM.SolórzanoD. G. (2009). Critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate for Latino/a undergraduates. Harvard Educational Review, 79, 659-690.
32.
ZalaquettC. P. (2005). Study of successful Latina/o students. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 5, 35-47.
