| This study explores the attitudes of five, sixth-grade, bilingual Latino students at an urban, public, charter middle school. The participants in this study took part in an after school, bilingual English/Spanish reading program over the course of ten weeks. The research was conducted using a case study methodology. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews with the participants and their parents, observations of the after school program, and informal conversations with participants' mainstream classroom teachers. By exploring these students' attitudes, educators and policy makers can gain better insight into how to address the linguistic and cultural needs of bilingual Latino learners. The findings of this study suggest that, although having generally positive attitudes towards school and learning, the participants occasionally felt disconnected from class content. The findings also suggest that these students' levels of engagement could be increased by providing them with bilingual literature that relates to their specific linguistic and cultural backgrounds. |
