This collection examines the ongoing social dynamic between peer relations and academic achievement, bringing together the latest thinking from prominent scholars in anthropology, psychology, sociology, and education. These expert contributors:
- Address two key questions overlooked in the literature on Mexican-descent youth: In what ways do peers and peer relationships influence the school performance of Mexican-origin high school youth? In what ways do schools participate in structuring these peer relationships?
- Provide a theoretical discussion of the concept of “peer social capital” and the ways in which relationships among students can help to promote school achievement.
- Present six new studies that analyze the diverse types of peer interactions and influences in various school settings between Mexican-descent youth and their non-Mexican peers as well as among Mexican-descent youth themselves.
- Link prior analyses with recommendations for policy and practice, indicating where findings may be applied to the critical issue of raising the school achievement of a significantly underachieving portion of the American youth population.
