Future Perfect?: Teachers' Expectations and Explanations of their Latino Immigrant Students' Postsecondary Futures

• Published in: Journal of Latinos and education Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 38 - 52
• Main Authors: Dabach, Dafney Blanca, Suárez-Orozco, Carola, Hernandez, Sera J., Brooks, Maneka Deanna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Routledge 02.01.2018; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: College Attendance; Elementary School Teachers; Futures (of Society); Hispanic American Students; Immigrant students; Immigrants; Interviews; Latin Americans; Latinos; Longitudinal Studies; Mexican Americans; Middle School Teachers; postsecondary education; Secondary School Teachers; Teacher Attitudes; teacher expectation; Teacher Expectations of Students; Teacher Student Relationship; teachers; California
• ISSN: 1534-8431; 1532-771X
• DOI: 10.1080/15348431.2017.1281809

Teacher expectancy research has demonstrated the greatest effects for members of racialized groups. Most research has focused on students' near-term abilities; missing are understandings of how teachers perceive their students' future trajectories. Drawing on social mirroring and attribution theories, this study investigates how 14 elementary, middle, and high school teachers of Latino immigrant students described and explained their students' post-high school futures. Most teachers described their students as non-college-bound, with employment likely in the service sector. They attributed their students' futures to family related explanations more often than to structural factors. The study's implications emphasize the need to develop deeper understanding of structural inequalities that mediate students' trajectories including schooling factors.