EARS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.

Factors for the academic success of Hispanic American students whose background profiles label them as "at-risk " are explored in this ethnographic study. Areas of focus include demographic and biographical characteristics, everyday life, group identity, and roles of primary and secondary social groups. Observation and discourse analysis of 20 high-achieving Hispanic students (10 female and 10 male) in two inner city high schools focused on their creation of a world view and strategies for goal achievement. Analysis of the data suggested two primary categories which explain the success of these students and which are described under the rubrics of "potential identity threats " and "the gauntlet." "Potential identity threats " encompasses families and neighborhoods in which non-achieving cultural themes abounded, but which were countered in each case by positive role models/significant others s