Member Login

 

 

New Journalism on Latino Education

 

EWA and the National Panel on Latino Children and Schooling, based at Berkeley’s Institute of Human Development are collaborating on the New Journalism on Latino Children project that offers a fresh perspective on  reporting and research on Latino families and schools. Two publications examining trends in academics and culture have been released Getting Latino Youth Through High School, The Cultural Strengths of Latino Families and Giving Latino Children a Stronger Start. 

Latinos fare poorly compared to other racial and ethnic groups in income earned and high teen birth rates. New studies led by the University of California, Berkeley find that immigrant Latino mothers, who typically live in poor neighborhoods give birth to healthy babies, but the toddlers lag behind middle class white children in basic language and cognitive skills by 2 to 3 years of age.

The Latino population is expected to nearly triple from 47 million today to 133 million by 2050, when they will account for almost one in three U.S. residents, according to Census projections. Already, Latinos make up more than half of public school students in California and New Mexico. New studies suggest that Latino students and their families have high aspirations and understand the importance of completing school.

Over the next several months, we will be examining the lives of Latino pre-schoolers in the Chicago area.

The first area of focus: dual language programs. Illinois is about to become the first state to require such classes – and such training. 

It’s a complex issue. What kind of training should teachers have? How difficult will it be to find enough qualified applicants to teach such classes? What if you have more than one second language among the children in the preschool program?

Check back with us on conference information and links to research on these topics.

EWA sponsored a special session at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C. exploring why more Latino students fail to graduate from college. Sarita Brown of Excelencia in Education offers an overview of the Latino College Crisis and what can be done to get more students to enroll in college.  At EWA's 2008 annual meeting in Chicago, Richard Fry, senior scholar at the Pew Hispanic Center, discussed myths and realities about Hispanics and English language learners with reporters

EWA, the National Panel on Latino Children and Schooling, and the Pew Hispanic Center collaborated on a day-long discussion on Latino youth and education on Oct. 6 at the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, DC.

 

latino

The Pew Hispanic Center released two reports The Changing Pathways of Hispanic Youths Into Adulthood and Latinos and Education: Explaining the Attainment Gap using survey findings of Latino teens and young adults about their attitudes toward high school and whether they plan to go to college or to work. Another panel will examine new federal policy toward Latino education, featuring Juan Sepulveda, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, as well as Veronica Garcia, New Mexico secretary of education.

Stories looking at issues of Latino schooling:

Reporters covered the Oct. 6 conference at the Pew Hispanic Center and also have tracked stories since. Here are some highlights: Image from Dallas Morning News

You can also see a video of Luis Duarte talking about his dreams and aspirations at the Dallas Morning News.

Here are sources and organizations:

  • Francisco L. Rivera-Batiz is a professor of economics and education at Teachers College at Columbia University. His scholarly interests are education, economic development, international and public affairs. In addition, race, ethnicity and gender in the labor market. Immigrants and education, and the Latino population of the United States.Contact him at Teachers College, Room 350 Macy Hall, 525 West 120th St., New York, NY 10027; (212)  678-3152;  flr9@columbia.edu

     

  • Sarita E. Brown is the founding president of Excelencia in Education, an organization that helps Latino students achieve in higher education. Contact her at Excelencia in Education, 1752 N St N.W., 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20036; (202)778-8323; sbrown@edexcelencia.org.

     

  • Bruce Fuller is a professor of education and public policy, director of the Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), an independent policy research center based at UC Berkeley and Stanford University. His expertise is in tate and federal K-12 education policy, programs and legislation such as the No Child Left Behind Act, preschool and school readiness, charter schools, academic testing, child care and welfare reform. Contact him at (510) 643-5362; b_fuller@berkeley.edu.

     

  • Richard Fry is a demographic economist who focuses on Latino educational, economic and social outcomes. He is one of the nation's prominent scholars on measuring Latino educational attainment and college participation. Contact him at the Pew Hispanic Center, 1615 L St. NW, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20036; (202) 419-3600; rfry@pewhispanic.org.

     

  • Patricia Gándara is professor of education in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Los Angeles. She serves as co-director of the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA and associate director of the UC Linguistic Minority Research Institute. Gándara’s research focuses on educational equity and access for low income and ethnic minority students, language policy, and the education of Mexican origin youth. She's just released a book entitled The Latino Education Crisis. Contact her at UCLA, 3329 Moore Hall, Los Angeles, CA; (310) 267 4875; gandara@gseis.ucla.edu.

     

  • National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics

     

  • Pedro Portes is the Goizueta Foundation Distinguished Chair of Latino Teacher Education at the University of Georgia. In his position, he leads Latino education and research efforts on the campus and across Georgia. Contact him at the Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education, University of Georgia, 315 Aderhold Hall, Athens, GA30602; (706)583-5561; portes@uga.edu.

     

  • Russell W. Rumberger is a professor of education at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His expertise is in decreasing the high school dropout rate, education policy, economic analysis, higher education, research methods, student mobility and school effectiveness. Contact him at the University of California, Santa Barbara, (805) 893-3385; Russ@education@uscsb.edu.

     

  • Pilar Torres is the founder and executive director of Centro Familia, a 10-year-old community- based non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality and availability of early care and education opportunities in low-income, immigrant neighborhoods. Contact her at Centro Familia, 10914 Georgia Ave., Wheaton, MD 20902; (301) 754-1801; ptorres@centro-familia.org.

     

The Pew Hispanic Center released two reports The Changing Pathways of Hispanic Youths Into Adulthood and Latinos and Education: Explaining the Attainment Gap using survey findings of Latino teens and young adults about their attitudes toward high school and whether they plan to go to college or to work. Another panel examined new federal policy toward Latino education, featuring Juan Sepulveda, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, as well as Veronica Garcia, New Mexico secretary of education.

Here are other published reports to help with your research:  

You can also listen to the experiences of undocumented students as reported by students enrolled in the Collaborative Journalism Project at UC Berkeley Law School's Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity.