Graduation Date
Spring 2026
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Arts degree with a major in Education
Committee Chair Name
Tristan Gleason
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Marisol Ruiz
Second Committee Member Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Third Committee Member Name
Tim Olson
Third Committee Member Affiliation
Community Member or Outside Professional
Keywords
Latine, Latinx, Rural students, Counterstories, Testimonios, Oaxacan students, Education equity, K-12 educational experiences
Subject Categories
Education
Abstract
As the Latine community has increased in rural Humboldt County and in rural regions across the country, educators and researchers have struggled to address the needs of this student population. These challenges are reinforced by deficit perspectives that frame multicultural and multilingual student populations as “culturally lacking” or as “English learners”. Such narratives continue to drive policy in the K-12 education system and contribute to persistent inequities; Latine students represent the lowest educational attainment across other rural student populations (Sansone, 2023, p.60). To challenge these deficit narratives, this research applies a LatCrit methodological framework to create testimonios, a form of counterstory, about a particular Latine population in rural Humboldt County: Oaxacan-American youth from indigenous migrant parents. A total of nineteen Oaxacan-American students were interviewed across two local school districts in Humboldt County. The student testimonios reveal the educational inequalities they experience and these testimonios highlight their knowledge, strengths and resiliency in the educational system. These testimonios emphasize how they have turned the margins into places of hope and resistance (Solórzano & Delgado Bernal, 2001). By centering student testimonios, this research offers critical insights that can guide the approach towards more equitable educational research, practice, and policy about Latine rural youth.
Citation Style
APA
Recommended Citation
Cortez, Lorena, "Amplifying counterstories and testimonios about Latine rural youth: A case study of the educational experience of Oaxacan-American youth in rural Humboldt County" (2026). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2562.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2562
Included in
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Indigenous Education Commons, Other Education Commons, Social Justice Commons