The Pew Hispanic Center released a report this week on Latinos and education. Some of the more troubling statistics to come out include the following:
- “Nearly nine-in-ten (89%) Latino young adults ages 16 to 25 say that a college education is important for success in life, yet only about half that number-48%-say that they themselves plan to get a college degree.”
- “Among foreign-born young Latinos ages 16 to 25, nearly three-in-ten (29%) say they plan to obtain a bachelor’s degree or more. However, a higher share (36%) of foreign-born young Latinos says they do not want to continue their education.”
- “Latinos ages 18 to 24 are less likely to say they are currently enrolled in school than all young adults ages 18 to 24—33% versus 42%.”
- “More than one-third (36%) of Hispanic females ages 18 to 24 say they are enrolled in school. In contrast, 30% of Hispanic males ages 18 to 24 say they’re in school.”
Interestingly enough, Latino youth rate their high school learning experiences positively:
- “Two-thirds (66%) of Latino youths strongly agree that they are receiving or received a good education at their high school.”
- “More than six-in-ten (62%) Latino youths strongly agree that teachers in their high school are working or worked to help them succeed.”
- “Almost two-thirds (65%) of Latino youths strongly agree that their parents play or played an active role in their education.”
There is clearly a disconnect between what Latino students want to achieve and their current reality. What I find so interesting about this survey is that Latino youth rate their high schools positively, yet what is occurring in the high schools in terms of drop out statistics doesn’t reflect this positive assessment. Just last month a report came out by the National Women’s Law Center and MALDEF indicating that 41% of Latinas do not complete high school in four years or drop out, and that is just for the girls. It seems that the boys tend to perform even more poorly.
As a follow up commentary on this study, the education blog on the Dallas Morning News also mentioned this:
“Bruce Fuller from the University of California-Berkeley also shared research showing that while Hispanic babies on average start out at 9 months as developmentally equal to white and black babies, by the age of 2 they rapidly fall behind. The reason? Researchers noticed that Hispanic mothers less frequently sang and read to their child or participated in other learning activities.”
Having researched educational issues, I certainly admit that there are systemic barriers to realizing our educational potential. However, I do think that we, as a community, need to take off the blinders and start taking matters into our own hands quickly. What I mean by this is that we need to start emphasizing the foundations of a solid education at home. Latino babies falling behind developmentally at age 2 is beyond disturbing. It doesn’t take much to read to a baby and engage him or her in a word rich environment.
Additionally, if we have such a high drop out rate at the high school level, then we need to start thinking about how we can change those schools and/or get our students enrolled in charter and private schools where the public schools have failed. Clearly, this report shows that Latinos see the value in education for achieving success, but there is a profound disconnect where the rubber meets the road. There seems to be a misguided trust or blind faith in the current high school system for so many respondents to provide positive answers.
Collectively, we need to rethink our priorities. Other immigrant groups have performed well in school facing similar hardships (and many of us aren’t even immigrants, but have been here for generations). The Examiner has an article up in response to this same Pew survey, quoting some Latino students who felt that the study findings pointed to excuses. In some ways, I would have to agree. So much can be gained from consistently reading to young children, taking them to libraries, and spending quality leisure time that exposes them to music, art, and the outdoors. Intellectually stimulating activities don’t necessarily have to be costly, but in my view, it will take some reorienting and prioritizing.
I know that on any given Saturday or Sunday in Latino neighborhoods near where I live, I see a lot of parties, weekend socializing, big inflatable jumpers for children to bounce around in, and maybe a car show or quinceañera. What will it take to get more of these people into the local library or to a local book fair instead of the mall or flea market? My thought is that the educational attainment conundrum is one that we are going to have to start tackling head on asap.
15 responses so far ↓
1 BettyM // Oct 9, 2009 at 1:32 pm
The statistics are disturbing. Pre-school, after-school care, and parent involvement would help. Some families do not have access to pre-school and after school care — it doesn’t exist or it is too costly. Parents must be involved and work together – join the school’s Parent Teacher Association (do school’s still have those??)
2 HispanicPundit // Oct 9, 2009 at 3:56 pm
BettyM,
What makes you think pre-school would work? If our current public education in the ghetto sucks, what makes you think giving it more responsibility would make it better?
Even Head Start, a program directed at those who need it shows ambiguous results. A preschool program for everybody will be even less helpful – ending up just being a subsidy to wealthy neighborhoods (less childcare expenses), teachers union and government officials. But another disappointment for those who need the most help.
I can understand why Democrats would support it but not anybody who actually cares about minority progress.
3 webmaster // Oct 9, 2009 at 4:23 pm
I went to a private pre-school. My parents did not qualify for Head Start. Pre-school is good for socialization and teaching small children how to sit and pay attention.
I wonder how many parents could afford pre-school or other educational enriching activities instead of investing in quinceañeras or other leisure activities that don’t yield an intellectual return. Pre-school isn’t necessarily the end all and be all either.
If a child is already behind developmentally at age 2, something is not right in the home.
HP, according to the bureau of labor statistics, most pre-school teachers are not unionized. “Fewer preschool and kindergarten teachers were union members—about 17 percent in 2006.” (scroll down to the section on earnings)
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos069.htm
4 Anna // Oct 9, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Re: “If a child is already behind developmentally at age 2, something is not right in the home.”
Too many parents stick their kids in front of the television and feed them junk food in their formative years and by the time they start school, they are already behind.
By the time kids are five, they should know how to meet people, ask questions, share, write their name, follow directions, do basic reading and counting, etc.
For many poor children, kindergarten is the first time they have ever been away from home, or in a social situation with people who are not related to them.
5 Anna // Oct 9, 2009 at 5:13 pm
I saw a segment on CNN that was a preview of their Latino in America series, and Soleded O’Brien addressed the issue of education. She interviewed a girl from South Los Angeles who is constantly pressured by her mother to help out at home, which interferes with her ability to attend school. The girl helps her mother at their business, translates for her, takes her to doctors appointments, and babysits her small niece, even if it means missing class.
Some Latino parents will not let their children individuate. People need to break away and put their own needs above the needs of the group. Girls in particular are used as household help and free babysitting service, and discouraged from developing their own goals.
The girl in the CNN segment needs to tell her mother to learn how to speak basic English and to find a friend, neighbor, or home health aid to accompany her to appointments. And she has to tell her aunt to find somebody else to babysit. People do not have the right to suck the life out of their children.
6 Anna // Oct 10, 2009 at 11:24 am
What do people think about the upcoming CNN series Latino in America? I happened to watch the above mentioned segment as I was changing the channel, but I have no intention of watching the series.
When do we get to tell our own stories in the media like other Americans? Soledad O’Brien does not speak for me at all. I want to see stories about successful Mexican-Americans like astronauts and Nobel Prize winners.
How long are we going to take this crap from CNN?!
7 webmaster // Oct 10, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Anna,
I will write a longer post about the CNN series. I haven’t watched it, but I have mixed feelings about CNN showing this documentary series, while continuing to allow Lou Dobbs to have a platform on their network on a daily basis. I know some people who went to the LA screening of LIA, and some liked it and even liked Soledad’s work.
We will take this crap from CNN as long as we blindly watch their network and then get excited that they throw us a bone like Latino in America.
But to get back to the education topic, I can agree that Latino parents need to let their children learn and experience life beyond serving their parents’ needs. If more parents valued education, they would not let the children work or serve them to the detriment of their studies.
8 stephen // Oct 10, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I have a 5 year old and she reads and writes and adds multiple-digit numbers (kid books, not Nietzche of course). Her school is almost 90% white and they all are at the same level in her kindergarten class.
She’s sitting on the table now writing a “book” and adding random numbers at 9:50 pm. I can say I never did this in kindergarten and nobody cared to make sure I knew how to. I caught up pretty fast, and I’m a professor now, but expectations were always low. Not only from my parents but from my teachers and advisors.
9 Anna // Oct 10, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Re: “We will take this crap from CNN as long as we blindly watch their network and then get excited that they throw us a bone like Latino in America.”
If 1 million Latinos canceled their cable service over CNNs racist hiring practices and Lou Dobbs, that would wake them up. When Lou Dobbs costs them money, they’ll get rid of him. Wring letters and changing the channel isn’t enough.
10 Anna // Oct 10, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Re: “Not only from my parents but from my teachers and advisors.”
Yeah, college advisors aren’t very good. I have read that minority peer advisors are better in terms of retention.
11 Michaelr // Oct 10, 2009 at 10:35 pm
We all have our horror stories, especially those of us who endured public education in minority dominated schools. But the reality is based on our ambitions, and those accomplishments we achieved on our own. Everything else is just excuses.
12 John // Oct 14, 2009 at 7:05 am
As a Latino father who just had two daughters graduate from Yale, it is the parents that need to be educated. It was sad to see in a class of about 1500, only about 30 students of Mexican descent were there. When will the parents realize that their kids can do and achieve what ever they want.
13 BettyM // Oct 14, 2009 at 9:22 am
John, congratulations. I’m sure everyone agrees that there is no single cause for the poor performance of latino youth nor is there one solution to the problem. I do agree that the first step in ensuring that our youth receive a sound education is encouragement from their parents.
14 irma // Oct 24, 2009 at 12:47 pm
I have not seen Soledad O Brien’s “Latino in America”, but what I have read about it, she should produce a second segment …..
Educational attainment in the Latino community? Bottom line, at least in the Mexican American community (my background) there has rarely been an emphasis on education except in isolated pockets. I am
52 years old, and can remember being mocked
by my Mexican American peers for “talking white and not speaking Spanish.” My Mexican parents had a response for that ” They think they are speaking Spanish, in Mexico they call
that pocho. There is no such thing as speaking
“white.”. Armed with this support, I went on
to get two degrees (BA and a PhD) and along the way I learned to read, write and speak
Spanish at the university level. My parents
were especially pleased with my decision to learn proper Spanish.
My point is that many Latino youth are getting the wrong message at home about education and about learning to speak English. Education
“belongs” to no one specific group. Education is something to be treasured, not something to
endure like a spoonful of cod liver oil. Education is the key to power and success- something my father stressed on many an occasion.
I would like to see more Latinos in science
(my career choice). I encourage young Latinos
every chance I get – to consider being a
Biochemistry , Physics, or Chemistry major.
But, if they choose to go to college at all- I am happy with that…………
15 Sharky // May 6, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Latino and Hispanic American have the lowest educational attainment in the US. They also have the highest poverty levels. The criminal rates are also high. Unlike White and Asian Americans. White Americans have lowest poverty(that is good thing) and high income, and Asian Americans have the highest educational levels and low crime rates. Even though there are many famous Latinos and Hispanic Americans: like actor and actress, athletes, singers, businessmen…, but most of them are not that success. [MOST] Latino and Hispanic students would most likely in receiving gold medals for using swearing words if there is a competition. They are born with low manner. The above descriptions are refer to many or most of Latino and Hispanic Americans, but not every single of them b/c I also have a favorite Latino teacher.
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