EDUCATIONAL-INEQUALITY AMONG WHITE AND MEXICAN-ORIGIN ADOLESCENTS IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST - 1990

Adolescents of Mexican origin complete fewer years of schooling than d o non-Hispanic White adolescents. Researchers rt ho have focused on su ch factors as family background, English-language ability and migratio n history as explanations for this finding have often neglected the re lationships among these factors. Using data from the 1990 Public Use M icrodata Samples, this analysis integrates several explanations for th e educationally disadvantaged position of Mexican-origin adolescents. Although family-background factors account best for ethnic-group diffe rences in adolescents' success in school, English-language ability and migration history are also associated with adolescents' schooling out comes. However, English-language ability and migration history do rela tively little to explain the gap in schooling outcomes between Mexican -origin and non-Hispanic White adolescents. Finally even after all the se factors are taken into account, adolescents of Mexican origin are s till at an educational disadvantage relative to non-Hispanic White ado lescents in the final years of high school.