“… you don’t come to this school... to show off your hoodies”: Latinas, Community Cultural Wealth, and an Early College High School

Early College High Schools (ECHS), recent school reforms in the U.S., were designed as social justice, equity-oriented interventions to increase educational opportunity for students from traditionally marginalized and underserved groups. The purpose of this qualitative inquiry was to understand and examine the perceptions and experiences of eight Latina students, regarding their motivation and persistence in an ECHS. Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) framed the analyses. Findings demonstrated the students relied on several forms of CCW to support their motivation and persistence. However, observations and prolonged engagement in the ECHS setting revealed deficit perspectives held by some teachers and incidents of racist mocking occurring between some teachers and students. Resultantly, the students’ CCW was undermined as well as the school’s social justice imperative. Recommendations relevant to the early college context are provided.