Special Report
Equity & Diversity Video

Heritage Profiles

By Chienyi Cheri Hung — June 01, 2012 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

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.
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.
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.
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

Events

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
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
From Passive to Active Reading: Student Engagement in the Age of AI
What the research tells us about active reading and student engagement—and what it means for teaching in an AI-enabled world.
Content provided by Pearson
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
Professional Development Webinar
Micro-Learning, Macro Results: Reimagining Professional Learning
Rethink professional learning with 3 strategies that personalize professional learning, validate expertise, and support educator retention.
Content provided by Mira Education & Modiv EDU
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
School Climate & Safety Webinar
There But Not Present: Rethinking Student Engagement
Learn how to recognize the early signs of disengagement and what the behavioral science reveals about which interventions actually work.
Content provided by Frontline Education

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

Read Next

Equity & Diversity Trump Extends Anti-DEI Push to Private Schools, Eyeing Their Tax-Exempt Status
Schools that give racial minorities preferences would lose tax-exempt status under newly proposed rules.
5 min read
A sign for the Internal Revenue Service building is pictured in Washington, May 4, 2021.
A sign for the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington on May 4, 2021. The agency has proposed new regulations that would threaten the tax-exempt status of any private school that give racial minorities preference in admissions, scholarships, and programming.
Patrick Semansky/AP
Equity & Diversity Ed. Dept. Releases Data on Schools' Racial Disparities Months Late
The data is supposed to highlight racial, ethnic, and disability-based disparities in schools.
6 min read
MINNEAPOLIS, MN, January 22, 2026: Students at Washburn High School fill the stairwell during passing time in Minneapolis, MN.
Students fill the stairwell in between classes at a high school in Minneapolis on Jan. 22, 2026. The U.S. Department of Education has released data designed to highlight disparities in schools, but it did so quietly and without issuing a report highlighting top-line findings.
Caroline Yang for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Opinion I Wasn't Ready When a New Slur Hit My Middle School Class. I Will Be Next Time
Anti-immigrant rhetoric does not stop at a school's gates, even where many students are immigrants.
Jacobo Coronel
•
4 min read
Image of a bold red speech quotation mark, filter, and a sponge.
Laura Baker/Education Week + Canva
Equity & Diversity Opinion How Should White Teachers Show Up for Their Colleagues of Color?
Racial equity demands fewer allies and more co-conspirators. Here’s why the distinction matters.
8 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