Abstract: The review categorizes and critiques the literature dealing with Portuguese- Canadian children and their education. The Portuguese in Canada have been the object of relatively limited scholarly research, and the specific topic of Luso-Canadian youth schooling has been much neglected. Most of the readily available information comes from general scholarly literature on Portuguese-Canadians, or from non-scholarly anecdotal sources (e.g. newspaper articles). This evidence is often fragmented, unsubstantiated by research, child-centered, culturally biased and contradictory. Parents are often assumed to bear the brunt of the blame for the scholastic underachievement of Luso-Canadian youth. The relevant empirical research studies, still few in number, have focussed by contrast mainly on the structuring of academic failure by the practices and policies of the school system. Few works have sought to investigate in depth the complex linkages between scholastic underachivement and the Luso-Canadian community’s marginalized role within Canada.

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