Three weeks into the academic year, Veronica Macario’s
10-year-old son had yet to attend class at Manzanita Community
School. He had a laptop from the school. He’d received directions
on how to log into classes. “But since he doesn’t understand
English,” Macario explained in Spanish, “he didn’t understand
anything.”
Pedro Martinez, the superintendent of the San Antonio Independent
School District, oversees the education of almost 50,000
students. Ninety percent live in poverty, he said, and half of
the families in the district make less than $35,000 a year.
Martinez described educating students, kindergarten through high
school, who live in cramped homes without computers or internet
connections since the pandemic hit in March.
Education reporters, alas, are increasingly experienced in
covering violence directed at students, teachers and school
staff.
This weekend’s mass shootings added to the horrible list.
In El Paso, the gunman apparently targeted
Latino families doing their back-to-school shopping at a
Walmart. Among the victims: parents and other relatives who
shielded children, and at least one teacher.
Hispanic students, who make up the second largest racial
demographic in schools today, are entering college in record
numbers. But they are also dropping out of college at a far
higher rate than white students. That reality has important
implications for our educational and economic systems and the
reporters who cover them, according to a group of researchers and
experts gathered at the 2018 Education Writers Association
National Seminar.
A new,
large-scale survey on U.S. discrimination has found
that more than three-quarters of Latinos believe there is
discrimination against Latinos in the United States. And about a
third say they’ve directly experienced some
discrimination in the job market, or when shopping
for a home.
Michele Siqueiros recalled the day she arrived on a college
campus.
“I thought I had arrived on another planet,” she told a recent
gathering of journalists who attended the Education Writers
Association’s fourth annual convening for Spanish-language media.
“There were very few Latinos.”
Siqueiros, now the president of The Campaign for College
Opportunity, a California nonprofit organization, said she was a
straight A student in high school, but in college “I felt for the
first time I wasn’t prepared.”
Charter school advocates and skeptics speaking at a recent
Education Writers Association convening for Spanish-language
media agreed on little except this: Charter schools are having a
big impact on Latino communities nationwide.
Esmeralda Fabián Romero/LA School Report en Español for EWA
Decades of restrictions on bilingual education in public schools
across the country — and particularly in California — led to a
dramatic reduction of bilingual teachers. Now that California
voters have permitted bilingual education through Proposition 58,
which passed in November 2016, the state faces a shortage of
talent.
President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy
DeVos both say they want to expand school choice, including with
public funding for private schools.
Recently, two parent activists on the front lines of the school
voucher debate — one from Wisconsin, the other from Arizona –
spoke to journalists attending the Education Writers
Association’s convening for Spanish-language media.
An elderly black woman with a crumpled piece of paper helped reframe the way Jose Antonio Vargas views the debate over immigration in America.
Vargas is a longtime journalist, an undocumented immigrant, and an advocate for immigrants. He was at a Tea Party event in North Carolina a couple of years ago when the woman, who recognized him from television, approached. She held a document she said her great, great, grandmother was handed after landing in South Carolina.
For nearly three decades, a White House commission created to help boost Hispanic student achievement has advised four presidents and their secretaries of education. The advisory panel, however, is set to expire on Sept. 30 unless President Donald Trump issues an executive order to keep it going, according to Patricia Gándara, a commission member who is rallying to preserve it.
More Hispanic students are taking the ACT college-entrance exam, and in some states their scores inched up, new data show. But the achievement gap persists for the class of 2017, with many Hispanic students failing to meet benchmarks for university-level work.
Latino Immigrant Parents Struggle to Find Help With Distance Learning
Three weeks into the academic year, Veronica Macario’s 10-year-old son had yet to attend class at Manzanita Community School. He had a laptop from the school. He’d received directions on how to log into classes. “But since he doesn’t understand English,” Macario explained in Spanish, “he didn’t understand anything.”
Educating During COVID: Superintendents and College Leaders Scramble to Fill Students’ New Needs
Solutions include more financial aid, free headphones and traffic light wifi hotspots
Pedro Martinez, the superintendent of the San Antonio Independent School District, oversees the education of almost 50,000 students. Ninety percent live in poverty, he said, and half of the families in the district make less than $35,000 a year. Martinez described educating students, kindergarten through high school, who live in cramped homes without computers or internet connections since the pandemic hit in March.
Resources for Covering Hate, Shootings and Trauma
Journalists share advice on interviewing children and writing about race.
Education reporters, alas, are increasingly experienced in covering violence directed at students, teachers and school staff.
This weekend’s mass shootings added to the horrible list. In El Paso, the gunman apparently targeted Latino families doing their back-to-school shopping at a Walmart. Among the victims: parents and other relatives who shielded children, and at least one teacher.
Hispanic, Latino, Latinx: How to Cover the Fastest-Growing Student Group
Hispanic students, who make up the second largest racial demographic in schools today, are entering college in record numbers. But they are also dropping out of college at a far higher rate than white students. That reality has important implications for our educational and economic systems and the reporters who cover them, according to a group of researchers and experts gathered at the 2018 Education Writers Association National Seminar.
College-Educated Latinos Are More Likely to Report Discrimination
Survey finds that Hispanic-Americans experience slurs and bias.
A new, large-scale survey on U.S. discrimination has found that more than three-quarters of Latinos believe there is discrimination against Latinos in the United States. And about a third say they’ve directly experienced some discrimination in the job market, or when shopping for a home.
Getting Latino Students To and Through College
Michele Siqueiros recalled the day she arrived on a college campus.
“I thought I had arrived on another planet,” she told a recent gathering of journalists who attended the Education Writers Association’s fourth annual convening for Spanish-language media. “There were very few Latinos.”
Siqueiros, now the president of The Campaign for College Opportunity, a California nonprofit organization, said she was a straight A student in high school, but in college “I felt for the first time I wasn’t prepared.”
As Latino Enrollment in Charters Grows, Debates Persist
Charter school advocates and skeptics speaking at a recent Education Writers Association convening for Spanish-language media agreed on little except this: Charter schools are having a big impact on Latino communities nationwide.
With New Research, Policy Shifts, Bilingual Education on Rise
Decades of restrictions on bilingual education in public schools across the country — and particularly in California — led to a dramatic reduction of bilingual teachers. Now that California voters have permitted bilingual education through Proposition 58, which passed in November 2016, the state faces a shortage of talent.
School Vouchers: What Do Latino Parents Want?
President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos both say they want to expand school choice, including with public funding for private schools.
Recently, two parent activists on the front lines of the school voucher debate — one from Wisconsin, the other from Arizona – spoke to journalists attending the Education Writers Association’s convening for Spanish-language media.
Jose Antonio Vargas Calls for Context, Clarity When Reporting on Undocumented Immigrants
An elderly black woman with a crumpled piece of paper helped reframe the way Jose Antonio Vargas views the debate over immigration in America.
Vargas is a longtime journalist, an undocumented immigrant, and an advocate for immigrants. He was at a Tea Party event in North Carolina a couple of years ago when the woman, who recognized him from television, approached. She held a document she said her great, great, grandmother was handed after landing in South Carolina.
It was a bill of sale.
Trump Urged to Renew Advisory Panel on Improving Education for Hispanics
For nearly three decades, a White House commission created to help boost Hispanic student achievement has advised four presidents and their secretaries of education. The advisory panel, however, is set to expire on Sept. 30 unless President Donald Trump issues an executive order to keep it going, according to Patricia Gándara, a commission member who is rallying to preserve it.
Slight Gains for Hispanics on ACT, but Achievement Gap Persists
More Hispanic students are taking the ACT college-entrance exam, and in some states their scores inched up, new data show. But the achievement gap persists for the class of 2017, with many Hispanic students failing to meet benchmarks for university-level work.