But They Just Can’t Do It: Reconciling Teacher Expectations of Latino Students

This case begins with a contextual overview of the educational plight of Latino students in U.S. public schools. This pervasive plight has economic and social implications in the lives of these students. Using a Borderlands Cultural Wealth framework, the case focuses on the educational challenges of Mexican American and immigrant students in one of the poorest areas in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas. The school principal is faced with the challenge of trying to reform educational practices, but the deficit perspectives of the teachers are in direct contrast to what the students need to be successful.