Hispanics and the Future of America (2006) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
6 Barriers to Educational Opportunities for Hispanics in the United States--Barbara Schneider, Sylvia Martinez, and Ann Owens
6 Barriers to Educational Opportunities for Hispanics in the United States--Barbara Schneider, Sylvia Martinez, and Ann Owens
Pages 179-227
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From page 179... ...
As Hispanic students proceed through the schooling system, inadequate school resources and their weak relationships with their teachers continue to undermine their academic success. Initial disadvantages continue to accumulate, resulting in Hispanics having the lowest rates of high school and college degree attainment, which hinders their chances for stable employment.
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From page 180... ...
When examined by country of origin, educational attainment for Hispanics varies. As shown in Figure 6-1, Mexican Americans, who are the largest and fastest growing Hispanic subgroup in the United States, have the lowest rates of educational attainment compared with other groups.
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From page 181... ...
from 1993 to 1999 indicate that Hispanic children age 3 to 5 are less likely to be read to compared with non-Hispanic children. Families in which parents' primary language at home is Spanish have especially low rates of participation in literacy activities.
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From page 182... ...
An additional mechanism explaining different rates of participation is language: within each income bracket except the highest, Hispanic families in which neither parent speaks English were less likely to read to their children, tell a story, or visit a library than Hispanic families in which both parents speak English in the home.4 The rates of literacy participation for Hispanic families who speak English at home more closely resemble those of white and black families, suggesting that bilingual families may be more assimilated into American culture, and specifically into practices that increase school performance. It is difficult to draw causal conclusions regarding the effects of language spoken at home across racial/ethnic groups and within the Hispanic population due to methodological shortcomings of existing data sets: the small numbers of non-English speakers in the existing samples, some surveys not being administered bilingually, and questions regarding literacy activities not differentiating between reading to a child in Spanish and doing so in English.
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From page 183... ...
. that parents who are bilingual are more likely to engage their child in literacy activities than parents who speak only Spanish, but their children are still at a disadvantage in reading compared with children whose parents speak only English.
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From page 184... ...
Black children, however, are significantly more likely to attend preschool than Hispanic children in all age groups. Some positive changes in Hispanic attendance in preschool programs can be seen by looking at participation in Head Start, which is specifically designed to serve disadvantaged children and uses federal poverty guidelines as a key factor for assessing eligibility.
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From page 185... ...
One explanation for this difference may be the poor quality of other available preschool programs (Currie and Thomas, 1996) .6 While attending Head Start programs appears to provide some benefits, lack of available quality preschool programs remains an obstacle for some Hispanic children.
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From page 186... ...
.7 The three models, in Appendix Table A6-1, show that race/ethnicity is differentially associated with each risk factor, and that Hispanics who speak English at home face different risks than those who speak Spanish at home. Hispanics, especially those who speak Spanish at home, are much less likely than blacks to be in a single-parent family relative to whites.
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From page 187... ...
In general, these findings suggest that, although there are large numbers of Hispanics with two or more risk factors, the pattern of risk differs considerably for Hispanics who speak English at home and those who speak Spanish at home.9 As with literacy activities that occur prior to formal schooling, parental education and limited English proficiency play an important role in academic success when examining risk factors contributing to school performance. A parent's primary language has implications for how involved he or she can be in their child's education.
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From page 188... ...
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN THE PRIMARY GRADES, MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND HIGH SCHOOL By the time they enter kindergarten, Hispanic students for the most part already trail their classmates in reading and mathematics achievement. Results from a recent national study of kindergartners, the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 19981999 (ECLSK)
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From page 189... ...
. TABLE 6-3 Percentage of First-Time Kindergartners Passing Each Mathematics Proficiency Level, by Child's Race/Ethnicity, Fall 1998 Number Relative Ordinal Add/ Characteristic and Shape Size Sequence Subtract Child's race/ethnicity White, non-Hispanic 94.1 66.2 27.7 5.9 Black, non-Hispanic 88.1 45.7 9.8 1.2 Asian 95.6a 71.1 30.3 7.6 Hispanic, speak English at home 88.2 41.1 12.0 2.3 Hispanic, speak Spanish at home 74.8 22.6 4.0 0.7 Hawaiian native/Pacific Islander 92.4 52.3 14.2 1.7 American Indian/Alaska native 80.3 37.0 7.3 1.0 More than one race, non-Hispanic 90.5 55.5 18.6 4.0 NOTES: Only students with complete assessments were included.
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From page 190... ...
This trend persists over time: by the end of first grade, Cuban Americans catch up to whites while Puerto Ricans, Mexican Americans, and Central Americans fall further behind. The achievement gap in mathematics is especially troubling because both instruction and performance in mathematics tend not to be dependent on language, in contrast to reading.
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From page 191... ...
found that Hispanic students entering kindergarten were rated lower than white students by their teachers, regardless of their academic ability. In the ECLS kindergarten survey, teachers were asked to rate the math and literacy readiness and proficiency of each of the students in the sample in math and literacy skills.
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From page 192... ...
Sample includes all Hispanic and non Hispanic white students who had both teacher ratings and test scores at each wave. Reading sample includes only students who passed the English Oral Language Development Scale Assessment in the fall of kindergarten.
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From page 193... ...
The lower test scores of blacks and Hispanics suggest that low socioeconomic status may play a role in creating this achievement gap.12 When Hispanic reading scores are examined by subgroup, Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans tend to score the lowest. This is cause for concern, because Mexican American immigrants are the largest and fastest growing minority group among young elementary school students.
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From page 194... ...
Data for fourth- and twelfth-grade Cuban respondents were not available until 2002; data for eighth-grade Cuban respondents were not available until 1998. Data for Puerto Rican twelfth-grade respondents were not available until 1994.
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From page 195... ...
For twelfth graders, the gap between Hispanic and nonHispanic white students is smaller than in earlier grades, most likely because Hispanic students with poor academic records and low test scores tend to leave school before twelfth grade. In looking at NAEP data over time, it appears that Hispanic children have been making achievement gains, but so have other groups, including whites; thus the achievement gap is not narrowing (Pew Hispanic Center Fact Sheet, 2004b)
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From page 196... ...
Data for Puerto Rican fourth-grade respondents were not available until 1992; Puerto Rican twelfth-grade respondents were not available until 1996.
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It is expected that most college admission tests will also be administered by computer. 16The majority of Hispanic students attend public schools, although the fastest growing population among private religious/Catholic elementary and secondary schools are Hispanics (McDonald, 2003)
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From page 198... ...
found that when these teachers avoid or reject negative attitudes and stereotypes, they are able to offer minority students the respect and high expectations that facilitate academic success. Prior research indicates that when minority students are aware of negative stereotypes regarding their academic ability, "stereotype threat" is activated.
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From page 199... ...
In contrast, when white students are with their teachers, they report feeling that they are meeting their own expectations, are relaxed and challenged, and indicate that what they are doing is important to their future goals. Like Mexican American students, black students feel happier and more relaxed when not with their teachers.
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From page 200... ...
. The course selection process, especially in the eighth grade, affects standardized test scores and college attendance and completion (Schneider and Stevenson, 1999; Stevenson et al., 1994)
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From page 201... ...
. Hispanic students are less likely than white students to complete advanced mathematics; they are also less likely than both white and black students to take certain advanced science courses.
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From page 202... ...
202 e II, one ation courses than Advanced Academic 41.4 45.1 30.4 26.2 55.5 26.9 Educ algebra of I, more d taken mathematics algebra Mathematics Condition as of have (e.g., Middle Academic 48.9 46.3 56.8 59.1 38.8 57.4 the may in 5 defined Levels c and not note trigonometry. are level geometry.
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From page 203... ...
. The increase among Hispanic twelfth graders taking AP exams appears to be driven mainly by the population growth of Hispanics, especially Mexican Americans, in the United States who are now staying in high school through twelfth grade.
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From page 204... ...
. To further explore the relationship between race/ethnicity and academic preparation, particularly among Hispanics, a series of analyses predicting the likelihood of taking advanced course sequences and college admission tests was conducted with data from the second follow-up of NELS: 88-2000.
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From page 205... ...
. Bilingual students have the advantage of having parents who are proficient in both English and Spanish and who are thus able to bridge cultural and language barriers to secure educational opportunities for their children (see Kim and Schneider, 2004)
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From page 206... ...
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Education Longitudinal Study of 19882000 (NELS: 88-2000)
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From page 207... ...
college by academic preparation and race/ethnicity 100 90 80 70 Asian 60 Black Hispanic-English 50 Hispanic-Spanish White Percentage 40 30 20 10 0 Base Base + high-level Base + high-level Base + high-level math course math and science math and science courses courses + SAT Academic Preparation FIGURE 6-10 Predicted probabilities (in percentages) of going to a four-year college versus a two-year college or not going to college by academic preparation (advanced math course, advanced science course, and taking the SAT)
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From page 208... ...
estimates that almost half of Mexican 15- to 17-yearolds who arrived in the United States between 1987 and 1990 did not enroll in school. These numbers are considerable, especially when compared with the dropout rates of Mexican Americans born in the United States.
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Census Bureau for cases with missing data on school enrollment items. Numbers for years 1992 through 2001 reflect new wording of the educational attainment item in the Current Population Survey beginning in 1992.
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The most effective intervention programs for high school completion are those that link graduation to college matriculation by including college-based or college-level courses or programs, after-school academic preparation, SAT test preparation, and tutoring. While there is a documented relationship between these programs and academic success,
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From page 211... ...
population in 2000 identified themselves as Hispanic, and only 7 percent of 20Fry (2004) found no difference in college enrollment rates among Hispanic children of immigrant or native parents, indicating that the students' background characteristics were not as influential as the bridge programs on their academic success.
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From page 212... ...
. The burgeoning number of first-generation Mexican Americans may account in part for the low rates of college attendance among Hispanics.
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From page 213... ...
. Compared with white students with similar abilities and levels of preparation, fewer Hispanic students enter highly selective colleges, attending less rigorous postsecondary institutions instead (Fry, 2004)
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From page 214... ...
Before Hispanic students begin formalized schooling, family resources are critically important. The confluence of limited English proficiency, low educational attainment, and other economic resources hinder many Hispanic parents from engaging their children in early literacy activities that have been shown to be important for later academic success.
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From page 215... ...
Implementation and evaluation of these interventions must be sensitive to generational status and differences among Hispanic subgroups. Because of the inconsistencies across data sets and the frequent omission of such important factors as generational status, ethnic subgroup, and language proficiency, causal conclusions and specific policy recommendations are not possible at this time or in the scope of this chapter.
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From page 216... ...
. Does Head Start help Hispanic children?
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From page 217... ...
. Explaining patterns of disengagement of Mexican Americans in high school.
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From page 218... ...
. Hispanic children and the initial transition to schooling: Evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study.
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From page 219... ...
. National Education Longitudinal Study.
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From page 220... ...
. Dropout rates in the United States: 2001 (NCES 2005-045)
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From page 221... ...
BARRIERS TO EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR HISPANICS 221 Valencia, R., and Aburto, S
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From page 222... ...
the and English Spanish attainment English Spanish TABLE level status Below Family speaks speaks speaks speaks Parent poverty Income educational Log-likelihood APPENDIX Race/Ethnicity Single Predictor Constant Black Hispanic, Hispanic, Asian Other Below Low Socioeconomic Chi-square 2 Family Predictor Constant Black Hispanic, Hispanic,
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From page 223... ...
p U.S. This parent poverty parent educational Educational .10, Log-likelihood Log-likelihood < p Asian Other Low Single Socioeconomic Chi-square 2 Low Predictor Constant Black Hispanic, Hispanic, Asian Other Below Single Socioeconomic Chi-square 2 NOTES: + SOURCE:
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From page 224... ...
= 51.66 (average) Statistics, Base + student educational expectations les (trigonometry = college ariabV Education Base + parent ol educational attainment = courses for some college Contr + math Center Base + family income = Base median ($32,209)
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From page 225... ...
= 51.66 NELS (average) Base + student race/ethnicity educational expectations les = college Statistics, each ariabV for ol Base + parent educational attainment = some college Contr + course Education for Base Base + family income = science median ($32,209)
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From page 226... ...
= 51.66 NELS (average) different by Base + student educational expectations les Statistics, = college ariabV Base + parent educational ol attainment = some race/ethnicity college Contr Education + each for Base + family income = Base for median ($32,209)
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From page 227... ...
Model 6: Base + parent educational attainment = some college Model 7: Base + student educational expectations = college Model 8: Base + comprehensive math and reading test at base year (G8) = 51.66 (average)
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