Lehman College
Latinos in All Levels of Education
Christian Rodriguez
Professor Pelto
Latinos in the United States
9 December 2018
Christian Rodriguez
Professor Debra Pelto
Latinos in the U.S.
9 December 2018
Latinos in All Levels of Education
Latinos are the most rapidly growing ethnic minority group in the country. However, academically we are lacking far beyond our non-Hispanic groups. This is mostly likely due to language barriers, lack of resources, and a good support system. There is a lot of data to prove that Latinos are the fastest growing ethnic group, but lack the resources along with tools needed to succeed. They lack the resources and tools they need to be successful most of the time due to being low-income. It is interesting to see that Latinos are discriminated in the educational context in where they fail to receive the help they need knowing that they might have language barriers. Immigrants that migrate to the United States do it for the opportunity to live a better life. The language barrier is a difficult barrier to overcome without any help with someone proficient in the English language. Often times these immigrants children are left to fend for themselves causing many of them to give up on their dream to live a better life. There is significant amount of data that portrays Latino’s dropout rates to be fairly high due to lack of school funding. It is important for schools to provide different kinds of programs to aid Latino’s in multiple courses, or to even keep them busy after school. Immigrants deserve to have a fair chance, being considered a minority group they don’t have access to the same developing programs as other ethnic groups.. There should be more awareness for the importance of a college degree or vocational schools. College may not be for everyone, so that is why vocational schools are equally important. Learning a trade can make you as much money as earning a college degree.
According to nea.org, there is a study that proves that non-Hispanic groups more proficient in reading. “ 42% of Latino children are found in the lowest quartile of performance on reading readiness compared to just 18% of white children.” In 4th grade, “16% of Latino students are proficient in reading.” By the 8th grade, “15% of Latinos are proficient in reading compared to 39% of Whites.” The lack of being proficient in reading stems from the language barriers Immigrants have to face when migrating to the United States. Immigrants that migrate from South America most likely speak Spanish, whereas Whites are raised speaking the English language. Unfortunately, Latino students are segregated into “low-income, low-opportunity neighborhoods in the western U.S.” (Hispanic Education Issues) This means that Latino Students have to work harder than their non-Hispanic peers in order to achieve the same result of succeeding Educationally. For example, there was this teacher that was experiencing difficulty obtaining testing for a Immigrant student who had been struggling in every aspect. He was lacking in “basic English skills, lacking verbal communication skills in the social and academic settings, lacking memory retention, lacking comprehension, and lacking motivation.”(Special Education and English Language Learners) The student family has failed to do anything about it. Instead of finding the root of the problem there response has been “ he was never any problem to the teacher.” After two years, the student continues to struggle. This is an example of of what can happen without a good support system. The teacher was very proactive in trying to help the student by reaching out to the family to get turn down. There definitely has to be some kind of communication between the parent and the teacher. Both sides have are crucial to the development of a student’s success. Immigrant parents have to do a better job at helping their child understand and adapt to the material being learned in school. Another obstacle students may face can be adapting to the new environment and making new friends. Often times language barriers may make immigrants feel like outcasts.
Schools have begun to develop special programs for English Language Learners, which has been designed to help facilitate immigrant students in succeeding in school. According to research by nea.org ,the ELL program has grown by fifty-four percent since the 1990 census. The fact that the ELL is overrepresented in special education programs have made it clear that the Language barrier immigrants face is the real reason why there are not succeeding. “Sixty percent of ELLs in the United States are Spanish speakers. The ELL program is designed to have a teacher dedicated to the student’s success. This will ensure that the student has a good support system. The ELL program is a collaboration with the students teachers. The teacher, counselor, and the literary specialist all assist in helping the student succeed. The literary specialist will ensure that she reviews the “forms and steps, and assist in completing the initial pages such as the bilingual-history form. They discuss the Individualized Education Plan where they discuss deficits, and isolate one language skill where” they will intervene.” The specialist will then continue to check up with the teacher regarding the student and will form interventions. Interventions are usually tutoring, and or assessments for progress monitoring. The Individualized Education Plan is smart because immigrant students may have different needs.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 was a very significant achievement in Education. Under the law, states are required to test students in reading and math in the third grade and forward. The major focus of the act was to close student achievement gaps in order to provide children with a fair, equal opportunity to obtain a high quality education despite their ethnic background. The U.S. Department of Education emphasizes four pillars within the bill which are Accountability, Flexibility, Research-based Education and School options. Accountability is to ensure that students who are disadvantaged, such as having a disability or a language barrier, achieve academic proficiency. This is extremely important as developing students may have different barriers or needs. This allows the schools to be flexible in terms of the student’s barriers. For example, if a student has dyslexia then he cannot be tested the same as a student who doesn’t have dyslexia. The student with dyslexia will have an unfair advantage. The act allows schools to be flexible with how they manage their funds to improve student achievement. Meaning that schools are able to allocate funds to create different programs to ensure that their students succeed. Research-based education focuses on educational programs and practices that have been effective through scientific research. School options just helps parents pick the school that is best for their child.
In order to help the fastest growing ethnic community things have to change at all levels from the house policies to the state funding schools in low-income neighborhoods. Immigrants parent believe that they are unable to support here children due to the language barrier. However, research shows that “ parents can and should be critical educators for their children. There is a critical role for teachers and schools in helping parents to support their children’s schooling” (nea.org) Immigrant parents believe that knowing English is the only way that they can help their children. However, their children still need a good support system and a figure who will motivate them to do better. Many children don’t realize the importance of school at an early age. A good figure who will explain to the children that giving up is not an option will greatly help enhance the child’s education. In order to promote academic success schools need to enforce the use of programs that “reduce school absenteeism, truancy, and tardiness of Hispanics.”(nea.org) The use of these programs forced children to actually attend school because there is no way a child is going to receive his education if he’s not attending school. Many immigrants skip school because they feel uncomfortable by the change of their environment. There are often worried that they won’t fit into the crowd and they won’t be good enough. Increasing Hispanic families’ awareness to the different kinds of programs that will help their children succeed. Also, schools should also provide incentives to teachers that show they can help improve low performing schools. This will motivate teachers to help push the students even further to get their succeed in receiving their education. Another thing, that can help Hispanic students can be creating a class showing the importance of school and how they would be at a disadvantage if they don’t pursue their education. The class should consists of statistics of ethnic groups with the highest dropout rates and how they avoid adding to the statistics. My experience in high school with my Hispanic peers I noticed that they would get minimum wage jobs and start doing poorly in school. Eventually, just dropping out and settling for the minimum wage jobs.
The gap between the rich and the poor continues to divide the nation as the requirements for a decent job becomes harder, requiring a college degree. In the 1970s, the only requirement to get a job making middle class wages would be a high school degree. “Workers with high school or less accounted for 64 percent of workers with above median earnings in 1970 but only accounted for 21 percent of workers with above median earnings in 2016.”(Carnevale 2) This shows that times are changing and that at the time people were what would now be considered advantages of going to college. However, at the time the immigrant wave was happening and immigrants were settled for industrial jobs instead of going to high school. Meaning that many immigrants that came didn’t get their education because they were unaware of the benefits of graduating. The earnings advantages of a four-year college degree have more than doubled. College is a great backup plan, but college isn’t for everyone. The demand for postsecondary education, including trade schools have increased in the United States. The trade schools are underrepresented because the demand for a college education is increasingly high. According to georgetown.edu, in “1992, fifty six percent of jobs required some postsecondary education, and by 2020, sixty five percent of jobs are projected to be the same.” These statistics prove that postsecondary education is becoming a necessity and that Hispanics need to become aware of these statistics so that they make better choices for their future. It is a fact that workers with higher levels of postsecondary education earn more than workers with lower levels of accomplishments.
Recently, I was able to see a documentaries regarding a Latino Student in education. Sharon from “I Really Want to Make It” on PB.com is a developing teenager that struggle to move past societal norms and grow as an individual due to not having enough resources to support her dreams. Sharon from the film “I Really Want to Make It” comes from a violent Hispanic neighborhood in Oakland. She submits to the societal pressure of becoming a gangbanger and fighting in the streets. She begins smoking and drinking at a young age because that is what other teenagers do in her neighborhood. Sharon drops out of high school despite the fact that her mother begs her to stay in school. Her mother is the supportive figure in her life, who is always pushing her to change her ways and do better. Her mother places her in several different programs so that she can do better. The pressure to fit in is what most likely drives these teenagers in Oakland to fit in. Teenagers that conduct these types of criminal activities, risking their freedom are the ones that need some motivation to do better. Sharon changed for the better when she started babysitting her niece to earn some extra cash. Sharon had gotten shot at while at a gas station was the event that motivated Sharon to change for her niece. She was terrified of the fact that someone would retaliate against her and try to hurt her family. After this event, Sharon started going to civil corps which is a program dedicated to people who have dropped out of High School and want to pursue their high school diploma once again. Civil corps helps you get your degree and gives you the opportunity to work to get field experience while earning some money. This a prime example on why Latinos need to have the same developing programs as other non-Hispanic groups. Latinos all around the United States are in need of school funding to create extracurricular activities that will keep them off the streets and in the school. Everyone has potential if they put the energy and time into their dreams. However, everyone needs to start off somewhere they feel comfortable enough to express their individuality.
References :
“Hispanics: Education Issues.” NEA, www.nea.org/home/HispanicsEducation Issues.htm.
Special Education and English Language Learners. Dec. 2007, www.nea.org/assets/docs/HE/hispanicfocus07.pdf.
Sanchez, Claudio. “Tougher Times For Latino Students? History Says They've Never Had It Easy.” NPR, NPR, 15 Nov. 2016, www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/11/15/502011688/tougher-times-for-latino-students-history-says-theyve-never-had-it-easy.
Kohler, Adriana D, and Melissa Lazarin. Hispanic Education in the United States. 2007, publications.unidosus.org/bitstream/handle/123456789/1393/hispaniceducation_statbrief.pdf
“I Really Want to Make It.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/video/independent-lens-i-really-want-make-it/.
Carnevale, Anthony P, and Megan L Fasules. LATINO EDUCATION and ECONOMIC PROGRESS. 2017, cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/Latino-ES.pdf.