Hispanic Students Improve on Economics Exam

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

Hispanic students are improving in their understanding of economics, but still lag behind white students, according to the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress in economics taken by high school seniors.

The exam was taken by 11,000 high school seniors in 2012, and the results have been compared with those of students who took the exam in 2006.

Overall, Hispanic students scored higher and a higher percentage performed at or above the “basic” level. The percentage of Hispanic students scoring at or above basic grew from 64% in 2006 to 71% in 2012.

About 26% of Hispanic students scored “proficient” or better, compared with 53% of white high school seniors.

Students were tested in the areas of market economy, national economy and international economy.

Jack Buckley, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, believes that improving performance of Hispanic students could have more to do with improving reading and writing skills than their actual comprehension of economics.

- The Nation’s Report Card: Economics 2012 (National Assessment of Educational Progress)

Latino Test Performance Varies Significantly by State

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

It’s often said that the zip code a child is born into is a strong predictor of their future academic performance and the quality of education that they will receive. But perhaps the same can be said about the state where a child is born.

The New York Times recently reported on an analysis by the National Center for Education Statistics of the five states with the largest populations, showing the different performance levels of Latino students on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam.

Those “mega-states” studied are California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas. Th five states enroll more than half of the country’s English language learners, a total of 2.9 million–nearly 1.5 million of whom are in California. They also enroll about 40 percent of the nation’s public school students, or 18.7 million students.

NAEP scores are seen as the best tool by which to compare academic performance across state lines.

One notable headline: California Latino students struggled considerably across the board, while Florida and Texas were strong-performers. While the analysis also shows that Latino students continue to lag white students considerably in performance on the tests (full report here), there was considerable variation in Latino performance between states.

The percentage of Latino eighth-graders performing at the proficient level or above in math in 2011 are below, with Texas leading the nation:

California: 13%, Florida: 22%; Illinois: 19%; New York: 13%; Texas: 31%; Nation: 20%.

And the performance of Latino eighth-graders proficient or higher in reading in 2011, in which Florida and Illinois led the nation:

California: 14%; Florida: 27%; Illinois: 23%; New York: 20%; Texas: 17%; Nation: 18%.

The performance of fourth-graders proficient or higher in math, in which Florida and Texas leading:

California: 17%; Florida: 31%; Illinois: 20%; New York: 20%; Texas: 29%. Nation: 24%.

The performance of Latino fourth-graders proficient or higher in reading was as follows in 2011, with Florida leading:

California: 12%; Florida: 30%; Illinois: 18%; New York: 20%; Texas: 19%; Nation: 18%.

And here is the performance of Latino fourth-graders proficient or higher in science in 2009, with Texas and Florida leading:

California: 8%; Florida: 23%; Illinois: 10%; New York: 13%; Texas: 16%; Nation: 13%

And the performance of Latino eighth-graders proficient or higher in science, with Texas leading the nation:

California: 11%; Florida: 24%; Illinois: 11%; New York: 12%; Texas: 23%; Nation: 16%.

Jack Buckley, commissioner of the NCES, said there was no “consistent pattern among these states,” The Times reported. And that, “each state seems to have areas where it shines and others where they lag behind its counterparts.”

The analysis includes the data broken out by other racial/ethnic categories and factors such as income and ELL status.

Learn more about the analysis of performance in the top five largest states here.

- Mega-States: An Analysis of Student Performance in the Five Most Heavily Populated States in the Nation.

College Board Reveals Advanced Placement Data on Latinos

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

Every year, the College Board releases its Advanced Placement Report to the Nation. It’s a virtual treasure trove of data on the college preparatory course exams, with information broken out by race and ethnicity, economic status, state and subject area.

According to the College Board’s recently released report, Latinos made up about 18% of AP-exam takers in the Class of 2012.

Among the graduating class of 2012, there were 169,521 Latino graduates who took an AP exam during high school. About 41% of the exams taken by Latinos earned a three or higher, typically considered passing. In comparison, about 63% of exams taken by white students resulted in scores of three or higher.

While Latino participation in AP courses is growing by leaps and bounds, they still are not well represented in math and science coursework.

The Spanish Language exam remained the most popular exam among Latinos in the graduating class of 2012–63,329 students took the course. That means that about 37% of graduating Latinos who took at least one AP exam, had taken an AP Spanish course.

And Latinos made up about 64% of all the Class of 2012 students who took the AP Language Exam. Meanwhile, Latinos made up about 13% of the students who took AB Calculus.

Many educators argue that the class is a gateway to other AP classes for Hispanic students–once they perform well, they tend to go on to enroll in other classes. Students often take the class in middle school and pass the exam. But there are others who are critical of the fact that many of the students already speak Spanish when they are tested.

The four courses behind Spanish in popularity among Latino students were English Language and Composition (59,597), United States History (52,740), English Literature and Composition (50,028), and United States Government and Politics (32,410).

The lesson here is, don’t just ask your school district for an overall passing rate by ethnicity.

If your district is touting that more Latino students are taking AP courses–what courses are they taking and are they passing the exams? Also, what AP courses do the campuses even offer?

Enjoy digging through the data!

- “More Latinos taking AP courses, but numbers are still low,” NBC Latino.

Illinois Suburbs Grapple With Latino Achievement Gap

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

Achievement gaps persist for Latino students living in the Chicago suburbs, The Daily Herald reports. The newspaper bases those conclusions on the 2012 Illinois state report cards, released this week.

The newspaper’s report included analyzing the test scores of Latino students at 27 high schools in the Northwest Illinois suburbs. About 38 percent of Latino students met or exceeded the state reading standards and about 40 percent did in math. By comparison, about 60 percent of all students in the Northwest suburbs meet or exceed standards in math, reading and science.

Some suburbs are focusing on creating career centers at high schools to improve student outcomes. For example, Wheeling High School in the suburbs created a STEM–science, technology, engineering and mathematics–program that has resulted in improved test scores.

About half of the school’s students are Latino. The newspaper reports that about 56.3 percent of Wheeling High’s Latino students met or exceeded math standards in 2012, about 20 points above the state average for Latinos.

“A growing percentage of our workforce population are Hispanic in this state and nationwide,” Wheeling principal Lazaro Lopez told the Herald. “We need them to be as educated and successful as their non-Hispanic counterparts because it’s going to have a direct impact on our economy.”

- Wheeling High School.

Fla. Sets Lower Achievement Goals for Latinos than White Students

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

There’s no question that an achievement gap still exists between white and Hispanic students. But does that mean goals for Latino students should differ from those set for white students?

The Florida State Board of Education recently set goals for black and Latino students that are lower than those set for white and Asian students. That decision — to set academic proficiency goals that differ by race and ethnicity – is stirring controversy, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Officials set benchmarks for the percentages of students they want to be at or above their math grade level by 2018: 74 percent of blacks, 80 percent of Hispanics, 86 percent of white students and 92 percent of Asian students.

They set similar goals for students to be at or above reading at grade level: 74 percent of blacks, 81 percent of Hispanics, 88 percent of whites and 90 percent of Asian students. The paper reports that currently only 53 percent of Hispanic students are reading at grade level, compared with 69 percent of white students.

Goals are also set lower for English language learners.

The differences in goals prompted officials from the Urban League to criticize the race-based goals. But state officials say they are useful.

“Of course we do want every student to be successful,” Florida Department of Education spokeswoman Cheryl Etters told the newspaper. “But we do have to take into account their starting point.”

The Daily Record reports that some board members expressed concern before the goals were voted on.

“If Asians can have a goal of 90 percent in reading, why can’t whites, and other subcategories?” the paper reported member John Padget as saying. “So I would just ask my fellow board members if we are happy with the signal this sends.”

- “Fla. education board OKs race-based academic plan.” Daily Record.

NAACP Says Entry Exam Bars Blacks, Latinos from Top N.Y. Schools

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

Several civil rights organizations filed a complaint on Thursday with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights arguing that the exam determining admissions to the most elite New York City public high schools effectively discriminates against black and Latino students.

The complaint filed by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund focuses on eight competitive admissions high schools. The most prominent and nationally known schools among the group are Stuyvesant High School and Bronx Science.

The NAACP press release notes that the Latino Justice PRLDEF also joined in the complaint. A number of other organizations also support the complaint.

Reuters reports that even though blacks and Latinos make up more than half of New York City residents, at Stuyvesant High, Latinos represent only about 2.4 percent of the enrollment and black students, 1.2 percent. Asians make up more than two-thirds of the students at Stuyvesant.

The complaint places the blame on the multiple-choice Specialized High School Admissions test, which is alone what admissions are based on. Reuters reports that the group wants the schools to base admissions on more than just a test–expanding considerations to grades, attendance, recommendations, interviews and writing samples.

The NAACP press release says that of 967 eighth-graders offered admission to Stuyvesant this year, 19 (2 percent) were black and 32 (3.3 percent) were Latino.

“Without a predictive validity study, there is no way that the NYCDOE can know whether the test provides useful information,” said Damon Hewitt, director of the education practice group at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc, in the NAACP press release. “And education experts agree that using a test as the only factor to make a high stakes decision is bad educational policy. It also defies common sense. Even elite institutions like Harvard do not misuse tests in this way.”

This is not the first time that disparities in the city’s elite schools have been in the spotlight.

- NAACP press release

MALDEF Investigates Latino Achievement Gap in New Mexico

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund is investigating the lagging academic performance of Latino students in New Mexico. The Albuquerque Journal reports that the civil rights group is probing the substantial achievement gap between Hispanic and white students and how it relates to state funding. Given the announcement, some are wondering whether MALDEF plans to sue the state.

About 48 percent of Latino third-graders in New Mexico are proficient in reading, compared with 69 percent of white students, the newspaper reported. Latino students make up about 70 percent of the state’s public school students.

News 4/KOB in New Mexico reported that Gov. Susana Martinez agreed that closing the achievement gap for Hispanics is a top priority, but that students of all backgrounds in the state need help. The state’s public education secretary, Hannah Skandera, told the station that efforts are underway to address the problem. ”We require every school across the state to demonstrate and provide evidence of a plan of closing the achievement gap,” Skandera said. “We have not done these things before in our state. It really is a resounding commitment. I applaud MALDEF for taking their position on this.”

The recent annual “Kids Count” report on child well-being by the Annie E. Casey Foundation recently found that New Mexico ranks 49th in the nation in education.

- “National civil rights group claims Hispanic students deserve better in schools.” KOB.

- “Education report gives state nods, knocks.” Santa Fe New Mexican.

- KIDS COUNT profile for New Mexico.

- MALDEF.

Report Outlines Education Agenda for Latino Students in Illinois

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

Nearly one in four Illinois public school students is Latino. And their story is no longer confined to the Chicago Public Schools, where Hispanics are 43 percent of the enrollment. Most of the state’s Latino student population is now in the suburbs and rural areas.

A new report by the Latino Policy Forum lays out the challenges facing the population. Only one in three Latinos are enrolled in preschool. By the time they reach the third grade, these Latino students lag white students by 31 percentage points in reading scores. English Language Learners, 86 percent of whom speak Spanish, lag 48 points in reading by third grade.

“Such statistics are alarming, and these trends left unchecked will have devastating implications for Illinois: ensuring positive outcomes for their community is no longer simply a Latino issue,” the Shaping Our Future report says. “The well-being of Latinos–whose population has increased by nearly 500,000 over the last decade–is inextricably linked to the well-being of all of Illinois?”

So, what can be done?

The report identifies areas of interest and specific action items to be taken on:

Raising Academic and Instructional Standards:

The report suggests providing linguistically appropriate tests for students, such as increasing students’ time to take tests and allowing students to respond in Spanish. In addition, it advises that students complete college prep coursework and be provided programs such as dual-language instruction.

Preparing Teachers and Academic Leadership:

The Forum urges racial diversity among the teacher and administrator workforce. It urges that bilingual and mainstream teachers have proper training to deal with the diverse student population. In addition, it seeks to promote Latino students’ access to highly qualified teachers.

Addressing Funding and Facility Concerns.

The state’s heavy dependency on property taxes to fund schools has perpetuated continued unequal funding districts, with high-minority districts receiving about $1,595 less per student than low-minority districts. The Forum promotes advocating for increased funding and new strategies for distributing funds. In addition, it suggests building schools to be able to prevent overcrowding and increasing students’ access to technology.

Fostering Partners in Education.

The organization has planned the Acuerdo group geared at bringing Latino organizations and leaders together to advocate for the community’s needs and push initiatives forward.

Partners with schools, classrooms and school districts can include community-based organizations, foundations, businesses, faith-based organizations, health organizations and families. They can provide resources for issues such as funding support and providing support such as gang prevention programs.

The report also stresses the importance of family involvement initiatives, such as sharing with parents school information such as the benefits of preschool. Schools can also be educated themselves about how to go back to school and learn English. In addition, the report points out that suburbs often have fewer community organizations that provide services than Chicago, and are in need of more partners.

***

The Latino Policy Forum also hosted a discussion today along with leaders from the National Council of La Raza, Chicago Public Schools and Illinois State Board of Education in conjunction with the report’s release. WestEd’s Aida Walqui, an expert on ELLs, also spoke about the common core standards.

- Education Acuerdo.

- Latino Policy Forum

Univision Educates Parents in Spanish About Common Core Standards

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

A new special report on Univision’s Web site explains to Latino parents in Spanish the significance of the “estándares comunes,” known to English speakers as the Common Core Standards.

In the report, “Ya viene: Elevando los estándares educativos,” or “It’s coming: Elevating the educational standards,” journalist María Antonieta Collins interviewed Aída Walqui, director of the teacher professional development program with WestEd and an expert on English language learners. The report explains how states are working together to create shared math and English standards.

“Every state has its own standards that signify a good education,” Collins says in the report’s opening (I’m translating this loosely from Spanish to English). “This lack of uniformity in education standards has affected the position of the United States in comparison with other countries and the capacity to compete in the global market.”

Walqui participated in a discussion about the standards with Collins that Univision broke into five parts on its Web site. ”What the standards don’t do is say how to teach the standards in the classroom,” Walqui said. “It gives freedom to the schools, school districts and states to use different but parallel ways of teaching the standards. The destination is still the same.”

She said that the majority of ELLs in U.S. schools today–82 percent of ELL primary students and 58 percent of ELL secondary students–are born in the United States. She called it a “crime” that some students arrive in high school still not proficient in English after attending American schools since kindergarten.

“These children speak perfect English in the street and speak perfect English with their friends,” Walqui said. “But when they try to read complex texts, they don’t understand them.”

That’s why the standards for ELLs are being revised, she added. Walqui is part of the “Understanding Language” initiative at Stanford University, which aims to inform educators about the important role of language in the new Common Core Standards. The group has released several papers regarding the standards and how they apply to ELLs.

Thanks to Education Week’s Learning the Language blog for calling this to my attention.

- Common Core State Standards Initiative.

- “Estándares educativos Parte 1: ¿Qué son estándares comunes?” (What are the common core standards?) Univision.

- “Estándares educativos Parte 2 ¿Por qué hay que cambiarlos?” (Why the change?) Univision.

- “Estándares educativos Parte 3 ¿Qué cambios notará en la educación de sus hijos?” (What changes will you notice in your children’s education?) Univision.

- “Estándares educativos Parte 4: Los estudiantes de inglés como segundo idioma.” (Students learning English as a second language) Univision.

- “Estándares educativos Parte 5: El rol de los padres.” (The role of parents) Univision.

Hispanic Students Narrow Science Achievement Gap on NAEP Exam

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

The achievement gap between Latino and white eighth-graders in science is narrowing, according to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data released on Thursday.

Between 2009 and 2011, average science scores among Hispanic students increased by five points, compared with a three-point increase for black students and one point increase for white students.

A proficient score is a 170 out of a 300-point scale. Hispanic students’ scores grew to 137, compared with an average 163 for white students and 129 for black students. The average score for English language learners was 106. While the improvement is a bright spot, American students still struggle with science. Only about 32 percent of students scored “proficient” or higher on exams.

The interim head of the National Science Teachers Association, Gerry Wheeler, called the gains “miniscule,” the Associated Press reported. ”When you consider the importance of being scientifically literate in today’s global economy, these scores are simply unacceptable,” Wheeler said.

The exam, known as “the nation’s report card,” is based on a sample of 122,000 eighth-graders from across the country.

Read the full report here. Some states performed better with Latinos than others. Florida, with an average score for Latino students of 144, and Texas, with 146, performed better than the national average. California, with an average of 128, and Arizona, with 132, were below the national average.

You can delve into state-level data here.

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