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  • Linguistic Minority Students Go to College: Preparation, Access, and Persistence ed. by Yasko Kanno and Linda Harklau
  • Cecilia Rios-Aguilar (bio) and Raquel Mendia Núñez (bio)
Yasko Kanno and Linda Harklau (Eds.). Linguistic Minority Students Go to College: Preparation, Access, and Persistence. New York: Routledge, 2012. 270 pp. Paper: $41.95. ISBN 978-0-415-89062-5.

The United States has more immigrants than any other nation (Gándara & Orfield, 2012). With such a large immigrant presence comes linguistic diversity. More than 11 million schoolage children between the ages of five and 17 speak a language other than English at home (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). This group of students, also known as linguistic minority (LM) students, represents 21% of all school-age children and 11% of the college student population.

Unfortunately, most of the available scholarship on LM students has concentrated on examining the academic success (or failure) of just one specific group of LMs known as English learners (ELs)—students who are in the process of developing English proficiency. Furthermore, this extensive body of work has concentrated its attention on the K-12 sector. As a result, important knowledge gaps exist with respect to the academic trajectories of LM students. Bringing together a variety of methodological perspectives, this volume showcases new research on LM students' transition to college.

Kanno and Harklau's cutting-edge book is, undoubtedly, a very timely and important contribution to the field of higher education. Most importantly, this volume moves away from a deficit perspective on LM students—one that focuses exclusively on the development of their English language proficiency—to a broader examination of the factors that affect LM students' transition to college, including an analysis of structural factors that can deter or support their academic success.

The book is organized into three sections, each containing four chapters. After a general introduction by the editors in Chapter 1, the first section discusses existing research on college preparation in high school. In Chapter 2, Rebecca Callahan and Dara Shifrer focus on language policies and school practices (e.g., tracking, availability of language services, institutional identification of students in need of language services, and assessment of English proficiency) that severely constrain LM students' opportunities to access the curriculum needed to successfully complete high school.

In Chapter 3, Eduardo Mosqueda compares the course-taking patterns of LM and non-LM Latinas/ os and Asians. The analyses suggest that both Asian and Latina/o LMs benefit from taking higher-level math courses and therefore should not be denied access to such courses while developing their English proficiency. This recommendation has implications for teacher pedagogy and how to embed language support in rigorous mathematics courses.

The last two chapters, 4 and 5, feature studies of specific programs and people. In chapter 4, Anysia Mayer documents one program's (International Baccalaureate Diploma) contributions toward helping LM students access college in California. In Chapter 5, Linda Harklau and Shelly McClanahan share the success story of how one LM student made it to college despite many obstacles. In sum, this section effectively highlights how limited access to core academic curriculum adversely affects LM [End Page 563] students' college preparation. Furthermore, this section is critical in helping educators to dig deeper into the stories of specific students to understand what works and what can be improved upon in different contexts.

The second section synthesizes what is known about LM students who have made it into college, from both a quantitative and a qualitative perspective. Specifically, the research presents enrollment patterns and transition experiences. In Chapter 6, Cristóbal Rodriguez found that LMs most often base their college-choice decision on cost, distance from home, and accessibility of campus. Relatedly in Chapter 7, Anne-Marie Nuñez and Johnelle Sparks found that, nationally, 61% of LM students begin their postsecondary educations in community colleges, compared with 56% of non-LM students. Furthermore, they found that socioeconomic status has the biggest impact on where LMs choose to attend college.

In Chapter 8, Yasko Kanno and Sara Grosik examine students' perceptions of the usefulness of ESL programs. They found that, similar to their K-12 educational experiences, LM college students experience...

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