Description: This study explores the factors that are associated with academic achievement among Mexican Americans. MacGregor-Mendoza compares the academic, sociodemographic, and sociolinguistic traits of Midwestern youths from three separate academic levels: high school dropouts, high school students, and college students. Among the significant findings are that Spanish language skills are not detrimental to academic achievement. Instead, Spanish may aid in retaining students in school. Also, neither positive attitudes toward English nor proficiency in English served to guarantee academic success. This study reveals that many of the factors that are traditionally cited as indicators of school failure (e.g. large family, low socioeconomic status) did not hold any true explanatory power for the population examined.

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