Abstract: Mission statements from 47 large, predominantly Hispanic and 43 large, predominantly White high schools in the State of Texas were analyzed using a mixed methods analysis. Qualitative analysis yielded 17 themes in these mission statements: Provide; Life-Long Learning; Develop; Prepare; Productive; High Expectations; Succeed; Collaborative; Achievement; Responsible; Nurturing; Safe and Safe; Positive; Citizenship; Committed; Excellence; and Educate. Quantitative analyses of these qualitative themes revealed a high degree of diversity among the high schools with no one theme appearing in a majority of the mission statements. Infrequently occurring in the mission statements were themes in which high levels of academic achievement were the focus. An All Possible Subsets discriminant analysis yielded a statistically significant difference between the predominantly Hispanic and predominantly White high schools. The theme of Citizenship was present in 23.4% of the predominantly Hispanic high school mission statements but was completely absent from the predominantly White high school mission statements. Themes of Achievement, Responsible, and Life-Long Learning occurred significantly more often in the mission statements of predominantly White high schools than in the mission statements of predominantly Hispanic high schools. Implications of these findings related to academic achievement and school reform are discussed.
AVAILABLE AT: http://cnx.org/content/m33486/latest/
Keywords: mixed analysis, mission statements, high schools, Hispanic
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