Heritage Profiles
Special Report
Special Report
Equity & Diversity Video

Heritage Profiles

By Chienyi Cheri Hung — June 01, 2012 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Copy URL

The nation’s Hispanic students are an incredibly diverse population, representing a mix of socioeconomic, language and cultural backgrounds. To highlight that diversity, Diplomas Count 2012 profiled individual students from the six largest Hispanic heritage groups represented in U.S. schools. Each of the profiles, featured below, is paired with a statistical portrait for that population group.

Dominican Republic

One Student, Two Cultures
Roger Sanchez’s ‘Afro-Latino’ heritage spurred questions from his new U.S. classmates.
Related Story: Dominican-Born Student Straddles Two Cultures

More Profiles

Federal Language Learning Twice as Hard for Mayan Student
Luis Mis Mis had to learn two languages—Spanish and English—when he moved to the United States from Mexico.
Lesli A. Maxwell
•
2 min read
Luis Mis Mis, 18, attends an English-literature class at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco. A fifth-year senior, he spoke Mayan—not English or Spanish—when he arrived in the United States at age 14.
Luis Mis Mis, 18, attends an English-literature class at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco. A fifth-year senior, he spoke Mayan—not English or Spanish—when he arrived in the United States at age 14.
--Ramin Rahimian for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Native New Yorker Finds Spanish a 'Lost' Skill
A second-generation Puerto Rican, Alisa Rodriguez rarely uses her parents' native tongue now.
Lesli A. Maxwell
•
2 min read
Eighth grader Alisa Rodriguez, left, talks with classmate Diana Huerta after school ends at the Family Life Academy Charter School. Alisa is one of the few students of Puerto Rican descent at the mostly Latino school in New York.
Eighth grader Alisa Rodriguez, left, talks with classmate Diana Huerta after school ends at the Family Life Academy Charter School. Alisa is one of the few students of Puerto Rican descent at the mostly Latino school in New York.
--Parker Eshelman for Education Week
Federal Student Travels 3,000 Miles to Reunite With Parents
Language was Adiel Granados' biggest hurdle after his long journey from El Salvador to Silver Spring, Md.
Jaclyn Zubrzycki
•
2 min read
Adiel Granados, 17, reviews a quiz in his Advanced Placement Chemistry class at Wheaton High School in Silver Spring, Md. Born in El Salvador, the junior plans to go to college and become an engineer.
Adiel Granados, 17, reviews a quiz in his Advanced Placement Chemistry class at Wheaton High School in Silver Spring, Md. Born in El Salvador, the junior plans to go to college and become an engineer.
--Nicole Fruge/Education Week
Equity & Diversity Cuban-Born Student Readjusts to Miami's Cuban Culture
Lisbet Ascon came to Miami-Dade schools by way of Chile.
Christina A. Samuels
•
3 min read
Lisbet Ascon, 18, back center, does warm-up exercises during beginning-choral class at Miami Coral Park High School in Miami. The junior, who is Cuban-born, grew up in Cuba and Chile before moving to the United States when she was 16.
Lisbet Ascon, 18, back center, does warm-up exercises during beginning-choral class at Miami Coral Park High School in Miami. The junior, who is Cuban-born, grew up in Cuba and Chile before moving to the United States when she was 16.
Josh Ritchie for Education Week
Federal Guatemalan Transplant Thrives in Cross-Cultural School
After San Francisco International High School, Marlyn Martinez wants to study civil engineering.
Jaclyn Zubrzycki
•
2 min read
Marlyn Martinez, 17, practices the reading she will do later before the start of Sunday Mass at San Carlos Borromeo Catholic Church in San Francisco, where she is a junior minister. Martinez moved to the United States from Guatemala a little over two years ago.
Marlyn Martinez, 17, practices the reading she will do later before the start of Sunday Mass at San Carlos Borromeo Catholic Church in San Francisco, where she is a junior minister. Martinez moved to the United States from Guatemala a little over two years ago.
Ramin Rahiman for Education Week

Chienyi Cheri Hung
Chienyi Cheri Hung was the Online Creative Director for edweek.org and teachermagazine.org.
Related Tags:
Hispanic Students Students of Color Immigrants

Events

Tue., August 18, 2026, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Webinar Closing the Practice Gap: Essential Insights for Leaders
Three instructional experts will share strategies for making students’ reading and math practice more engaging and impactful this year.
Content provided by Renaissance
Register
See More Events

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs
Create Your Own Job Search

Read Next

Equity & Diversity What's Driving Graduation Gains at Federally Funded Native American Schools?
Innovations in career-focused education, virtual learning, and other areas could be contributing, some say.
The Associated Press
•
5 min read
Native American Graduation Rates 26148594508639
Chief Leschi Schools senior Gerald Dillon, 18, gets a hug from a 2nd grade student as he serves as a teaching assistant through the school's career and technical education program, Wednesday, March 18, 2026, at Chief Leschi Schools in Puyallup, Wash. Over the past decade, graduation rates have risen at Bureau of Indian Education Schools.
Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo
Equity & Diversity Decades After Brown v. Board, New Lawsuit Challenges Persistent K-12 Segregation
Segregation violates a state constitution's right to an adequate education for all, plaintiffs argue.
Mark Lieberman
•
6 min read
Portrait of nine-year-old African-American student Linda Brown as she poses outside Sumner Elementary School, Topkea, Kansas, 1953. When her enrollment in the racially segregated school was blocked, her family initiated the landmark Civil Rights lawsuit 'Brown V. Board of Education,' that led to the beginning of integration in the US education system. (Photo by Carl Iwasaki/Getty Images)
Nine-year-old African-American student Linda Brown poses outside Sumner Elementary School in Topeka, Kan., in 1953. When her enrollment in the racially segregated school was blocked, her family initiated the landmark civil rights lawsuit <i>Brown</i> v. <i>Board of Education</i> that led to the Supreme Court decision outlawing racial segregation in U.S. schools. A new lawsuit in Massachusetts challenges persistent segregation in that state's schools.
Carl Iwasaki/Getty
Equity & Diversity School District Refuses to Sign Federal Agreement, Change Trans Student Rules
The district refused to sign the agreement despite the looming threats of funding cuts.
Taylor O'Connor, The Kansas City Star
•
4 min read
Kansas high school students, family members and advocates rally for transgender rights, Jan. 31, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. On Tuesday, July 2, a federal judge in Kansas blocked a federal rule expanding anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students from being enforced in four states, including Kansas and a patchwork of places elsewhere across the nation.
Kansas high school students, family members and advocates rally for transgender rights, Jan. 31, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan.
John Hanna/AP
Equity & Diversity Opinion The Myths and Realities of Culturally Responsive Teaching
It's time to stop thinking of culturally responsive practices as one more item on the to-do list.
Larry Ferlazzo
•
15 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week