Hispanic was a term that the U.S government adopted in the1970s to be an identityto persons of Latin origin. It was originally used to refer to persons of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, as well as people of Central and South American origin. The Hispanic cultural group is one of the largest ethnic minority groups in the United States of America. For instance, in 2010 census, the Hispanic population in the U.S were over 50 million people, and they comprised 17% of the total U.S. population (Rivera & Nieto, 2003).
Attainment of educational is crucial in any ethnic group. And in this case, it is vital to be considered in enhancing family strengths and the well-being of children among Hispanic population. Considering their population of 50million, only 14% of Hispanic population have attained a secondary education. The number of school dropout among Hispanic are quite high, with about 40% aborting studies before they finish their high school studies(Gandara& Contreras, 2009). The existing educational challenges are overwhelming, and even worse for foreign-born Hispanic population with 34.5% of foreign-born Hispanic of ages 25 and above recording less than a 9th grade education and only 10.3% having gone past high school (Rivera & Nieto, 2003).
For the Hispanics in the U.S, the experience of education is one with accumulated disadvantages. Many Hispanic children begin formal education without the social and economic resources that other students are exposed to, and most of their schools are ill-equipped to cater for these initial disparities among their students(Carrasquillo, 2001). The initial disadvantage often arise from parents' immigrant as well as socioeconomic status coupled with their lack of knowledge of the education system in the U.S. As Hispanic children proceed with their schooling, inadequate learning resources and weak relationships with their educators continue to greatly undermine their academic progress.These initial disadvantages continue to increase, leading to Hispanics having poorest rates of primary and secondary education attainment (Gandara& Contreras, 2009)
According to the new national survey of Hispanic population conducted in the U.S. Nearly 9 out of 10 people, which translates to 89 percent of Hispanic population of young adults believethat education is important for one to succeed in life. It is ironic that only half that number, 48 percent, say that they plan to get a secondary education. The survey found out that the supposed reason for the large gap between the high value the Hispanic place on education and their real aspirations to finish school appears to emerge from financial pressure of supporting their families. Other reasons that were realized included poor English skills, a dislike of the selected school and a desire that they do not require more education for the careers they want to pursue (Rivera & Nieto, 2003).
Today, most Hispanic families believe that being learned is necessary for obtaining a stable and meaningful future. This attitude is directly reflected in the educational expectations that parents hold for their families as well as the expectations which young people have for themselves. High expectations about education can be found in almost all racial and ethnic groups irrespective of their social and economic resources. Although parents, as well as children, share great educational aims, their inner aspirations do not necessarily translate into actual post-primary matriculation. This is exactly the case for Hispanic families, particularly those having parents who have not attained secondary education (Gandara& Contreras, 2009).
Despite their high expectations for education, Hispanics still remain the least educatedgroup in the U.S. For instance,just 11% of those over the age of 20 have attained a secondary education as compared with 17% of blacks, 30% of whites, and 49% of Asian Americans in the similar age group. Even much worse, more than one-fourth of Hispanic grown-ups have less than 9th-gradeeducation. When the entire Hispanic population is examined according to their country of origin, the educational attainment for the Hispanics vary. Mexican Americans, who comprise the largest Hispanic subgroup have the lowest rates of educational attainment as compared with other subgroups(Rivera & Nieto, 2003).
Given the current growth of the Hispanic demography in the U.S, most particularly in the past decade or so, and the high rising importance of both primary and secondary education, even for entry-level jobs, the barriers that the Hispanics encounter in realizing their educational ambitions is obviously a major policy concern (Gandara& Contreras, 2009). Some of the key determinants to the prevailing problem of education among the Hispanics include entering school without exposure to literacy activities early, the relationship between students from Hispanic group and their non-Hispanic teachers, and the lack of academic guidance in selection of courses impedes Hispanics from pursuing studies to higher levels.
Among the most important factors which contribute to success in schools is the extent by which parents are actively included in the education of their children prior to their registration into a formal preschool or even kindergarten program. Specific activities like reading aloud to children, have been proved to enhance language acquisition of children, early performance of children in reading, social developments, and later great success in school. Research shows that Hispanic children agingthree to five years are less likely to be read to as compared with non-Hispanic young children (Soto, et al., 2006).
The Hispanic families which the family’s primary language while at home is Spanish have specifically lower rates of participation in any literacy activities. In respect to reading to kids four or more times in a week, Hispanic families where both parents communicate only Spanish at home have a participation ratewhich is nearly 50% points lower than the white families. By contrast, in Hispanic families where both parents communicate by using English at home, the participation rate was only 15% points lower than the white families. Similarly, Hispanic households areless likely than the white households to take participation in other preschool literacy activitieslike telling their children stories or visiting libraries (Soto, et al., 2006).
The research also found out that families with limited social, economic and educationalresources are less likely to take participation in literacy activities as compared with those who have greater resources. Using data collected by the researchers, where families were categorized according with the level of income to determine if really literacy activities differ when resources are taken into consideration. The data revealed astatistically significant direct association between family resources and literacy activities across Hispanic ethnic group. This was an indication that lower participation in literacy activities can be explained by inadequacy of financial resources(Gandara& Contreras, 2009).
Growing bodies of evidence indicate that family engagementsin their children’s studies yields positive results for the young children by boosting their levels of school readiness as well as supporting theirsocial development.The evidences demonstrate positive benefits towards student learning when both parents and families are fully engaged in their education. For young Hispanic children, who have parents with very limited English language proficiency as well as overall low levels of education, strategies of parent engagements can actually strengthen their success and achievement in schools. It is said that early learning programs have that unique potential to equip the parents with the necessary tools to support the learning and success of their children (Padilla, 2005).
Another historical problem in the U.S is that most young Hispanic children do not attend preschool programs before entering kindergarten. Scholars have clearly stated importance of having children enroll in preschool programs. They argue that the pre-school attendance produces persistent gains on achievement basis and decreases the likelihood of grade retentions as well as placement in remedial programs, particularly for low-income children. Quality kindergarten and preschoolexperiences equip learners with the basic foundation forlater cognitive and social development. Despite the evidencesindicating the benefits of preschool attendances, Hispanic young children are the least likely to enroll in preschool programs(Soto, et al., 2006).
Another problematic issue in the U.S is the existence of limited success in early schooling in Hispanic family backgrounds.For instance, children having parents who did not complete secondary education, living in a home with just a single parent and staying in a low-income household (Padilla, 2005).These factors place Hispanic children at high risk of not succeeding academically. However, theseindicatorsdo not necessarily forecast that a student is destined to fail in school.Nevertheless, students whose family backgrounds have combinations of such factors are most likely to experience difficulty in their schooling (García& Garcia, 2012).
Both teachers and administrators of Hispanic schools who fail to understand cultural differences between the Hispanic Children and White students also hinder greatly the academic progress of Hispanics. The inaccurate assessment of learners’ abilities has been found even among kindergarten learners, whose educators tend to underestimate the literacy skills found in Hispanic kindergarteners (Gandara& Contreras, 2009). When administrators or teachersuse lack of English proficiency as an indication of special needs, language-minority children are overrepresented in special education classes, where academic performance is strictly underemphasized in the favor of the social adjustments.
Transition from primary school to secondary school is quite a challenging and quite uncertain process for many Hispanic students, even under normal circumstances. These learners are more likely than Whitesto be uncertain about which high school they want to attend and seem to have difficulties in adjusting to a new secondary school. Based on these findings, it is correct to conclude that Hispanics require assistance in effecting the transition from middle schools to secondary schools. Not only do the students require social, economic and psychological support, but they particularly need early guidance about the consequences of choosing specific subjects to study in secondary school(Padilla, 2005).
There are many policies and practices that have been put in place to ensure that education among the Hispanic population has been achieved. Among the many policies that have been adopted include theConciliowhich was formed in 1981 to keep an eye on the improvements of educational outcomes among Hispanic families residing in Dallas. The organization’s programs reach more than 10,000 individuals every year. The programs are well-known for their parent engagement programs. The program was formerly implemented in only three Hispanic schools, but it has since grown significantly and now reaches about 29 schools and four preschool sites (Soto, et al., 2006).
Another effective program is a close focus on k-12 supports. Some programs such as Project GRAD realized that to sustain the impacts of early interventions, it is important to strengthen the capacity of K–12 schools. This was to be done through monitoring and supporting students once they report at school. The program have attempted to carry out research-based interventions which follow students as a unit through all their K–12 years. These includes established programs like the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project as well as Success for All. In fact, independent with other similar studies, the Success for All researchers discovered good outcomes for Hispanic students in their regular English curriculums but superior outcomes when using their bilingual curriculums (García& Garcia, 2012).
Amidst other programs tocorrect the poor levels of education existing in Hispanic ethnic group is the Dropout Prevention Programs. These programs are focused on making education easily achievable for the Hispanic children by either, structuring strong supportive peer groups which reinforces program goals, providing access to strong curriculums which leads to higher education preparation, attending to students' cultural backgrounds as well as helping needy students who are determined to study by financing their education through provision of scholarships where applicable. An example of school program which focuses specifically on preparing Latino students for higher education is the Puente Project. The Puente project is active in 36 California secondary schools. The program provides numerous services which has seen an improvement in school enrollment of Hispanic Children in these regions(García& Garcia, 2012).
In current developments, President Obama challenged Americans to lead the world in the share of promoting education for the minority groups such as the Hispanics. In his support for the ongoing programs of boosting education among the Hispanics, he stressed that the U.S cannot attain its goal without significantly expanding and strengthening educational opportunities for all Hispanic students, from kindergarten all through secondary education (García& Garcia, 2012).
In the president’s speech at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce conference, in 2009, the President stated his education agendas and the significance of education to the Hispanic community, as well as to all Americans. President Obama requested for a focus on early education, high standards for the learning of students, effective teachers as well as school leaders, and innovations which will build on what can work in America’s classrooms(García& Garcia, 2012). He further stressed that improving education is a collective responsibility and it means providing support to transform low-performing schools anddecreasinghigh school dropout rates.
The state and federal policymakers can play a key role in developing systems which can support high-qualitylearning programs for Hispanic children and families. This can be done by the state and federal policymakers supporting early learning programs which promote family literacy and engagement. Family literacy programs have exhibited tremendous benefits for Hispanic children, whose parents require additional supports to aid their children to be successful in their studies (Soto, et al., 2006). These comprehensive programs for family literacy not only involve parents in learning of their children, but also provide English language as a second language for General Educational Development services for the engaged parents. These services expand the available opportunities for employment and even economic stability (Padilla, 2005).
Finally, the state and federal policymakers should incentivize partnerships with organizations that are found on the community level to provide family engagement services. This can be a service delivery system which incentivizes partnerships with CBOswhich would strengthen abilities of programs to effectively engage with those families that are hard-to-reach (Carrasquillo, 2001).Mostly, early learning programs does not have the expertise or staff capacityto design comprehensive strategies which successfully engage families having limited English proficiency. Moreover, Community Based Organizations have longer histories of associating with communities and have already established trust among the community members (Rivera & Nieto, 2003).
In my own opinion, this is what is supposed to be employed in order to boost education levels for the Hispanic children in the U.S. First, place more value on the Hispanic students' languages and cultures. The teachers as well as staff members should attempt to obtain a rudimentary mastery of the Spanish language (Padilla, 2005). Additionally, the teachers should not punish Hispanic students for using their language in contexts where English language is not desirable. At the lowest end, teachers should acquire some knowledgeabout the different Hispanic cultures. This will enable them understand their students even better and be in a good position to relate properly (Carrasquillo, 2001).
Secondly, the government should design counseling programs which will give special attention to language-minority students such as the Hispanics. It is obviously that counselors who are of Hispanic origin can more effectively tackle education problems originating in their homegrounds. Further, the counselors should investigate endowments, grants, as well as other financial assistance that are available to Hispanic school going population (Soto, et al., 2006).
Lastly, the best way to boost education among the Hispanic population is to encourage Hispanic parents to become engaged in their children's education. There are several ways in which this can be accomplished. For instance, offer ESL classes to illiterate parents, hold monthly parents' meetings, schedule neighborhood assemblies of all parents, and arrange teacher-parent conferences occasionally. Although this can be quite challenging to meet since most Hispanic households in the U.S have both parents working all through, and can be even more difficult to implement among the poor Hispanic households, who are mostly subject to working during the least desirable shifts (García& Garcia, 2012).
In conclusion, there is little systematic research by the government on Hispanic students, and what exists is not empirical in nature. It is clear that the government is currently not doing much to help the situation. Considering the outstanding challenges, coupled with wonderful potential that Hispanic students bring to United States schools, the government must break free of the preconceived ideas, prejudices, and chauvinistic demands and respond positively and energetically (Rivera & Nieto, 2003).The Country’s fastest growing student population certainly is not going to fade away. By the government extending its best efforts to these children, the whole nation stand to benefit a great deal.
References
Gandara, P. C., & Contreras, F. (2009). The Latino education crisis: The consequences of failed social policies. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
García, E. E., & Garcia, E. H. (2012). Understanding the language development and early education of Hispanic children. New York: Teachers College Press.
Soto, R., Perin, R., Ramirez, F., Arce, R. M., Elizondo, H., Olmos, E. J., Films for the Humanities & Sciences (Firm), Films Media Group. (2006). Hispanic education at the crossroads. Hamilton, N.J: Films Media Group.
Padilla, A. M. (2005). Hispanic psychology: Critical issues in theory and research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Carrasquillo, A. (2001). Hispanic children and youth in the United States: A resource guide. New York: Garland Pub.
Rivera, R., & Nieto, S. (2003). The Education of Latino students in Massachusetts: Issues, research, and policy implications. Boston: Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy, University of Massachusetts.
