Abstract

Attempting to explain the current state of Latino education and predicting future trends requires examining a variety of factors. Traditional variables are important to study, but as society changes so should the way scholars study Latinos and education. Given its ever-growing accessibility, and to many, increasingly brazen nature, this article examines the role the media may play in the education process. More specifically, it seeks to determine if there is a correlation between media content and performance on two key academic indicators. It raises the question: does the negative portrayal of Latinos in the media decrease Latino graduation and standardized testing pass rates? Using Texas education data from 2008–2017, results show that an increase in the ratio of negative to positive media content is significantly related to a decrease in performance. Likewise, an increase in positive content is correlated with an increase in performance. Based on these findings and the increasing presence of negative portrayals, media content is a variable that should be considered in future studies seeking to examine Latino academic performance.