By: beverly j. irby & Rafael lara alecio  (Page 5/12)

Challenges latinos and schools face

Today’s Latino immigrants and English language learners (ELLs) in the U.S. face a vastly different situation than those who immigrated as recently as a generation ago. As our society has shifted from an agrarian base to a highly technical society, greater literacy demands were placed upon students and workers. Much higher levels of English fluency are needed to compete in the U.S. economy; thus high levels of literacy are seen as necessary to improve one’s social and economic condition. The situation has become critical as nearly 4.5 million children come to school from families where the home language is other than English (Therrien&Ramirez, 2000). In Texas alone, over 684,000 students were served in ELL programs in 2004-2005, accounting for over 15% (15.7%) of the school population (TEA, 2006) with 94% Spanish speakers and 87% of those economically disadvantaged (TEA, 2003). Nationally, in 2001-2002, ELLs comprised 9.64% of the national enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, and 79% of these students were Spanish speakers (National Center for Education Statistics, 2002). More specifically, the population of ELLs in the U.S. at the middle to secondary schools ranges from>35% at grades 4-8 and approximately 19% at grades 9-12 (Kindler, 2002). The poverty rate among such foreign-born children sits at 39% (Ruíz-de-Velasco, 2000). The dropout rates of these secondary age ELLs is astounding. According to Whitehurst in his speech to the High School Summit (October, 2003), the dropout rate for Hispanics (7.4%) is higher than any other ethnic group (Asian 3.5, White 4.1, Black 6.1), and among those Hispanics are, of course, the ELLs in large number. Even more pronounced are the numbers from Jamieson, Curry, and Martinez (2001) as they reported that 13 percent of 18 to 24-year olds drop out of school and among those 34% are Hispanic. Compounding the problems of dropouts are the notable graduation rates as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics (2001). The Center found that in 2000, for Whites it was at 91% and for Hispanics it was at 64%. One of the prevalent antecedents to high dropout rates is the level of academic achievement.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) race/ethnicity statistics show only 22% of 12 ^th grade Hispanic students, the largest language minority, scoring at or above proficient on the 2002 NAEP Reading Assessment in comparison to White students (44% scored at or above proficient) (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). In math, only four percent of Hispanic students scored at or above proficient with White students scoring 20% proficient (National Center for Education Statistics, 2001). A problem with the majority of the research is that it has has focused on ELL program effectiveness and academic achievement at the lower grades (Center for School and District Improvement, 2004). The glaring statistics presented herein must raise a flag for researchers, policymakers, and educational leaders to attend to issues of learning at the secondary level.