An Approach to Understanding through Practice: Contextual Analysis of a High School-College Latina/o and Latin American Studies Collaborative Program

Collaborative, interdisciplinary, multigenerational, and culturally-rooted educational programs benefit students of historically marginalized groups in the United States. This paper employs critical race theory (CRT) as a means to better understand the greater dynamics undergirding the achievement gap. CRT also serves as a basis for the narrative description of the high school-college collaborative program I created and developed in Phoenix, Arizona, from 2002 to 2006. The program model features 2-year and 4-year college students co-facilitating dialogues on Latina/o and Latin American Studies at participating high schools. Collaborative program structures are analyzed with a focus on their ability to invite community input (Nunez and Oliva, 2009). I assess how multi-tiered, culturally relevant, collaborative programming at the local level provides support for both secondary and post-secondary students, which I argue, serves to strengthen communities.