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Brian Uribe
Professor Bieber
English 115 Honors
12 November 2015
Hispanics/Latinos Underperforming in American Public School
Hispanics and Latinos are the largest growing ethnic minority group in
the United States, projected to become the national majority by 2050
(Ahmed). With that in mind, is the nation prepared accommodate a
demographic shift? Currently it is not. According to an Accountability
Performance Index Report compiled by Californias Department of Education,
Hispanics and Latinos have scored the lowest in last years standardized
tests and show the least amount of academic growth in comparison to other
race and ethnic groups (2012-13 Accountability Progress Reporting). Looking
back on years worth of reports, Hispanics and Latinos lead California in
underperformance. Dr. Leonard Greenhalgh, Professor of Business
Management at Dartmouth University, addressed that all but a few of the
minority group are to remain an economic underclass, that the class division
between the rich and even middle class will drastically increasing due to the
lack of education the minority group needs to staff the workforce in the
service/knowledge economy (Greenhalgh). The US must acknowledge Latino
and Hispanic culture, address discrepancies in the public education system
for schools that are largely Hispanic, or deal with the long term implications
an underperforming and growing minority group would have on the nation.

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The influx of Central and South Americans (including Mexicans) is
largely evident in the Californias public schools. Enrollment records
published by Californias Department of Education stated that out of the 6
million on record, 3.3 million Latinos were enrolled in public schools, which
eclipses the 1.5 million people who identified as white, non-Hispanic
(Enrollment in California Public Schools by Ethnic Designation, 2014-15).
Both the state and federal government need to address the
inequalities that exist in Hispanic/Latino students in our public education
system. The US Department of Education must have a complete
understanding of their student demographics to shape their curriculum to
the students of current times. According to the 2010 Census, Mexicans made
up 63% of the Hispanic/Latino group with 30 million self-reported files (SelfReported Detailed Hispanic or Latino Group by Type of Race Response:
2010). Most countries south of the United States border have schools broken
down into Primaria, Secondaria, and Preparatoria; essentially elementary,
junior high, and high school. However, Primaria is the only mandated form of
education, so looking at education attainment records shows that 33% of
Hispanics and Latinos have not received a high school education, 13% have
only gone as far as required to (Detailed Years of School Completed by
People 25 Years and Over by Sex, Age Groups, Race and Hispanic Origin:
2014).While leaving sixth grade is illegal and looked down upon in the United
States, its culturally acceptable anywhere South of California. As a part of
culture, many Hispanic/Latino parents work hard so their children will have

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better opportunities, often having to emigrate in the hopes of a higher
quality of life. While this demonstrates the recognition of the importance of
an education by many Hispanic/Latino parents, it also demonstrates their
inability of becoming informed of their childrens education due to not being
as educated. Imagine the frustration one of the 13% who had not gone past
6th grade feels when their child needs help in Algebra? Now imagine the
elation and the humbling joy they would feel when their child becomes
proficient in a concept that surpasses what they know. A first generation
American may have trouble assimilating into American culture, it is up to
public schools to ease their families through the transition.
The increase in the Hispanic/Latino students has posed challenges to
educators who encounter barriers that prevent students from receiving an
optimal education (Moreno). After performing observational studies, teachers
identified and determined that linguistic discrepancies exist and that learning
development is affected from translating information between languages
(Cooper). Some Hispanic/Latino Families face many social issues, such as
lack of documentation/citizenship which makes them ineligible for many
government programs such as the opportunity of having an English as a
Second Language program. Parents may face economic/legal issues that
impact their students academic success. Someone who is growing up with
English as their second language may not be able to translate concepts well,
and without further assistance, may fall behind academically as they try to
understand concepts that just dont make sense. Students are measured

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through standardized tests which do not reflect the overall improvements a
student had made. Teachers at Carling Spring Elementary, a school in Florida
which encountered low scores from the ethnic group, tailored their lessons
towards test preparation and saw significant improvement in test scores
(Balingit). While the teachers had reported progress in test scores they
acknowledged that students became disassociated with the curriculum and
the monotonous task that was their academia.
The growing Hispanic population needs to be accommodated with
academic programs designed to close the achievement gap between ethnic
groups and improve school performance. If the ethnic group were not to be
acclimated into society there would be long-term implications of a changed
population. A student who falls behind would be susceptible to associating
education with negative emotions and may not seek a higher education or
may even drop out of high school due to being out of their depth and an
overwhelming feeling of dissatisfaction. If this were to continue for a decade
or two then there will be such a large class division between the rich and
working class that limited opportunity will pass off as acceptable behavior.
Now minimum wage is not necessarily a living wage, there will be a whole
ethnic group who had not received qualities or abilities that will get them
anything different than an entry level job. With the way the market economy
is, most business will either pay for technology in the place of a person or
outsource a position to another country where they can get someone for
less. Having a population that is uneducated will put more people on welfare

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and regions where people are living a lower quality of life will see crime rates
go up and destabilize society.
A growing ethnic group must integrate into a different society where
responsibility is placed upon both parties. Everyone should have the
opportunity to experience success. Education is the root of success and
must be available to all residents of a state. The public school system must
accommodate their enrolled students and adopt ESL and assimilation
programs that keep students involved and remain opportunistic of receiving
a fair education.
Work Cited
"2012-13 Accountability Progress Reporting (APR)." California Department of
Education. California Department of Education, 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
Ahmed, B. and J.G. Robinson. 1994. Estimates of Emigration of the Foreignborn Population: 1980-1990. Population Division Working Paper No. 9. U.S.
Census Bureau: Washington, DC. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
Balingit, Moriah, and T Rees Shapiro. "Poor, Hispanic School Focuses on Test
Prep, Sees Huge Gains. but Can It Be Replicated? An Experiment at
Virginia's Carlin Springs Elementary

Was Wildly Successful. Can Others

Replicate It?" The Washington Post, (2015): .Web.

10 Nov. 2015.

Cooper, Samuel G. Taming High-stakes Anxiety Among English Language

Learners: The Test

Anxiety of Middle School Hispanic ESL Students and

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Understanding the Consequences. n.p.: ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,
2007. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
"Detailed Years of School Completed by People 25 Years and Over by Sex,
Age Groups, Race

and Hispanic Origin: 2014." US Census Bureau. US

Census Bureau, 5 Jan. 2015. Web.

19 Nov. 2015.

"Enrollment in California Public Schools by Ethnic Designation, 201415."California

Department of Education. California Department of

Education, 2014. Web. 12 Nov.

2015.

Greenhalgh, Leonard. "When Minorities Become the Majority - The Vision for
2050."

DiversityBusiness.com. DiversityBusiness.com, 2012. Web. 19

Nov. 2015.
Moreno, Gerardo, and Francisco X Gaytan. "Focus on Latino Learners:
Developing a

Foundational Understanding of Latino Cultures to Cultivate

Student Success." Preventing

School Failure, 57.1 (2013): 7.

Onesearch. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.

"Self-Reported Detailed Hispanic or Latino Group by Type of Race Response:
2010." US Census
2015.

Bureau. US Census Bureau, 2010. Web. 19 Nov.