Report: ‘One-Stop’ Services Help Latino College Students

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

A new report outlines how community colleges can improve retention and completion rates for Latino students — in particular, through targeted financial counseling and assistance.

The report, “Supporting Latino Community College Students: an Investment in Our Economic Future,” was conducted by the advocacy group Excelencia in Education and the program, Single Stop USA.

Excelencia focuses on efforts that build Latino student success at colleges and universities.

Single Stop USA is a non-profit program offered on 17 community college campuses. Eight of the Single Stop sites are Hispanic-serving institutions (where the full-time student population is at least 25 percent Latino), which are predominantly in New York. The program provides student services such as financial and legal counseling, and assistance with taxes.

The report makes several key suggestions.

It suggests that policymakers should use the Higher Education Act reauthorization to provide incentives to colleges to improve student services that encourage retention and completion of degrees. In addition, colleges should create very targeted strategies to better inform Latino and low-income students about financial aid opportunities.

The report also describes how Single Stop works. The program is usually housed in a community college’s office of financial aid or student services. A site coordinator interviews the student and then determines what sorts of benefits may be able to assist the student with staying enrolled. Assistance could include public health insurance, food stamps, legal services and tax services.

The report describes how Julio, a 23-year-old student at Miami Dade College studying architectural design living with his father, used the services of Single Stop to apply for food stamps, Medicaid and disability for his family.

According to the report, about 55 percent of Latino students who have been helped through the program receive aid with preparing their taxes, 23 percent with public benefits, 13 percent with financial counseling, and 10 percent with legal services.

The HSIs that Single Stop serves are Contra Costa College, Miami Dade College, Central New Mexico Community College, CUNY Bronx Community College, CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY Hostos Community College, CUNY LaGuardia Community College, and CUNY Queensborough Community College.

- “Group paves way for Latinos to graduate college,” NBC Latino.

- “New report highlights innovative ways community colleges can help Latino students succeed,” Latina Lista.

- Single Stop USA.

Analysis: More Colleges See Large Latino Enrollments

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

About 54 percent of all U.S. Latino undergraduate college students in 2011-12 attended Hispanic-Serving Institutions, a new analysis has found.

HSIs are federally defined as those accredited colleges and universities where at least 25 percent of the full-time undergraduate students enrolled are Latino. Such colleges and universities now make up 11 percent of all colleges and universities in the country, according to the report by Excelencia in Education and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.

During the 2011-12 school year, there were 356 HSIs nationwide, according to the Excelencia analysis, which used data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Such schools are growing at a fast clip, as the number of HSIs grew by 45 institutions between the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years.

The designation is important because HSIs can qualify for federal Title V education funding, allowing them to expand academic programs and work on improving graduation rates.

Excelencia vice president of policy and co-founder Deborah Santiago told NBC Latino that it’s critical to ensure that HSIs receive the resources they need.

“Census data says Latino enrollment in college is the highest it’s ever been, but now it’s time to focus on the institutions they are attending, understand their reasons for attendance and focus on the quality of education they are receiving,” Santiago said.

Santiago added that it’s important to keep a list of HSIs because many don’t even know their status and that they can qualify for special federal funding.

Excelencia has identified 250 additional institutions where enrollment ranges between 15-24% Latino, making the schools potential future HSIs.

According to Excelencia, the largest group of HSIs are public two-year community colleges. Two-year schools make up 47 percent of HSIs, a total of 169. By comparison, there are 70 public four-year HSIs, 99 private non-profit four-year institutions, and 18 private two-year non-profit institutions.

California had 112 HSIs — the most of any state, by far. It was followed by Texas, with 66, and Puerto Rico, with 61. The majority of the schools are located in cities, not suburbs or rural areas. And when the enrollments of the HSIs in 2011-12 were averaged out, their total enrollment was 47 poercent Latino — representing 943,246 Hispanic college students.

- Analysis of Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Excelencia in Education.

- “Number of U.S. Hispanic-Serving colleges and universities sees big jump,” NBC Latino.

Report: Many Silicon Valley Latino Students Not Prepared for College

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

While Silicon Valley is world-renowned for its innovative high-tech industry, a new report says that only 20 percent of Latino students in the region are graduating high school within four years and are eligible for admission to the University of California and California State University systems.

The achievement gap is most glaring when compared with Asian students, 71 percent of whom graduate in four years and are eligible to enroll in the UC and CSU systems. For white students, it is 53 percent and for black students, 22 percent.

Innovate Public Schools produced the report, entitled “Broken Promises: The Children Left Behind in Silicon Valley Schools.” It examines student academic achievement in the Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, where about 38 percent of the students are Latino. The report breaks out the data by school district and–in some cases–individual campuses.

This is Innovate Public Schools’ first report. The organization’s formation was announced last year, supported by the Walton Family Foundation and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Innovate Public Schools was established in part with the intent of creating charter schools or new public school models that better serve minority and low-income students. So it’s important to consider that the group has a clear platform it is trying to advance with the report, which shows that traditional schools and school districts tend to do poorly with closing achievement gaps for Latinos. The group concludes that charter schools are more likely to do better with Latino students. The director of the group, Matt Hammer, is a former director of People Acting in Community Together (PACT), a group that successfully pushed area districts to open charter schools.

Innovate Public Schools highlights the average algebra proficiency rates at the seventh- and eighth-grade levels as early predictors of future success. Those proficiency rates are 23 percent for Latinos, 24 percent for African-Americans, 76 percent for Asians and 57 percent for white students. Silicon Valley Education Foundation president Mohammed Chaudhry is quoted as saying that Hispanic students are “slipping off the college track in elementary and middle school, signified by their inability to pass algebra in 8th grade and often in 9th.” Ninth grade is when students have traditionally been expected to take and pass algebra.

The report points out that in the Sunnyvale School District, 27 percent of Latino eighth graders take algebra, while 91 percent of Asians take the class. Grades, test scores and teacher recommendations determine who is able to take the class. The report points out that Latinos end up taking Algebra Concepts instead of algebra, which focuses on vocabulary and other skills.

But giving students access to classes doesn’t always close the gap. In the San Mateo-Foster City School District, 81 percent of Latino eighth-graders take algebra, but they end up with only 10 percent of students rated proficient.

The report highlights several charter and experimental schools serving mostly Latino students, such as the Rocketship Mateo Sheedy elementary school, as success stories for Latinos (who make up about 89 percent of that school’s enrollment). The students spend about a quarter of their time in a computer learning lab, attend school for eight hours, and do not receive art or music classes. The report also refers to the Renaissance School, a collaboration between the Alum Rock school district and PACT, as doing well with Latino middle school students.

The Aspire East Palo Alto Phoenix Academy high school focuses on dual enrollment courses. But things aren’t all rosy. A recent Palo Alto Daily News article found that only 64 percent of the academy’s class of 2011-12 graduated, compared with the 83 percent average in San Mateo County. The principal said the rate was low because students were often taking five years to finish.

- “Silicon Valley Community Foundation Announces New Education Reform Effort,” Philanthropy News Digest.

- “Report: Silicon Valley Schools Do Poor Job of Preparing Latinos for College,” NBC Bay Area.

NCES Report Shows High School Course Gains for Latinos

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

A new report released by the National Center for Education Statistics sheds some light on the course-taking practices of Latino high school students. In particular, greater numbers of students are taking math and science coursework.

The courses taken changed considerably between 1990 and 2009. For example, the percentage of Hispanic graduates those years who took a calculus course grew from 4 percent to 9 percent.

However, gaps persisted between groups. In 2009, about 42 percent of Asian graduates, 18 percent of white graduates and 6 percent of black graduates had taken calculus.

In addition, the percentage of Hispanics who completed algebra II/trigonometry increased from 40 percent to 71 percent between 1990 and 2009.

In the area of science, Hispanic graduates who had completed a chemistry course increased from 38 to 66 percent.

Programs are working to promote even greater participation in math and science courses by Hispanics. The AP STEM Access Program funded in part by Google intends to expand Advanced Placement courses in hundreds of high schools.

Latinos are underrepresented in AP math and science courses. Latinos in the Class of 2012 made up only about 13 percent of the students who took the AB Calculus exam, for example.

The report, “The Condition of Education 2013,” is a treasure trove of data spanning other areas as well, including test performance, child poverty and postgraduate income.

Try to delve into what courses Latino students are taking in your local school district. If you have STEM magnet programs, how diverse is the enrollment? I expect that promoting STEM among minority students will continue to be a hot topic in the coming years.

- “High School Students Taking More Math and Science Courses,” College Bound Blog, Education Week.

- “Grant Expands Access to STEM Courses for Minority Students,” Latino Ed Beat.

- “College Board Reveals Advanced Placement Data on Latinos,” Latino Ed Beat.

Pew: Latinos Making Dramatic Gains in College Enrollment

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

Latino high school graduates in the Class of 2012 were more likely to enroll in college than their white counterparts, a new Pew Hispanic Center study has found.

About 69% of Hispanic high school graduates enrolled in college the following fall, compared with 67% of their white peers. The data used for the study comes from the U.S. Census Bureau.

“This is the maturation of a big second generation among Latinos — native born, and educated in American schools,” Richard Fry, the report’s author, told The New York Times.

The Pew report also suggests that the struggling economy and the availability of fewer jobs could make college seem like a more appealing choice to young Latinos.

The announcement comes after the release of other reports in recent months showing that the educational outcomes for Latinos are looking brighter. More Hispanics are graduating from high school, although there is still plenty of room for growth and an achievement gap with whites persists.

In January, the National Center for Education Statistics released a report finding that the Latino high school graduation rate increased to 71.4% in 2010, up from 61.4% in 2006.

Similarly, an analysis by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center found that the Latino graduation rate for the Class of 2009 was 63%, representing a 5.5% increase from the previous year.

We should not minimize the fact that too many Latinos are still not making it to the high school graduation finish line, and they are not being factored into the Pew Hispanic Center’s percentages. Pew measured the college-going rates of the actual graduates, and does not include the students who started high school the same year but dropped out.

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2011 about 14% of Latino 16- to 24-year-olds were high school dropouts, down from 28% in 2000. The white high school dropout rate in 2011 was 5%, in comparison.

Pew has a few other caveats, as well. Just 56% of Hispanic college students are enrolled in four-year colleges and universities, compared with 72% of white students. Hispanic students are therefore more likely to attend community college, less selective schools, and are more likely to be part-time students — all factors that contribute to the fact that they are less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree.

But certainly, strides are being made and justifiably, celebrated.

- “Record rate of Hispanic students heading to college,” USA Today.

- “As Latinos Make Gains in Education, Gaps Remain,” The New York Times.

- “Latino High School Graduation Rate Sees Large Increase,” Latino Ed Beat.

- Diplomas Count, Editorial Projects in Education Research Center.

Universities Take Early Intervention Approach

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

Conversations about closing the achievement gap for Hispanic students often center around reaching children as early as possible — in preschool, or even as toddlers.

More universities are embracing a similar mindset. They are seeking to reach students before they’ve even thought of applying to college. That means working with students and parents in high school, or even middle school.

An article in The New York Times proposes that these outreach efforts may be able to accomplish diverse universities in ways that traditional affirmative action policies cannot.

The story points to California as a case study, since it has a ban on affirmative action admissions.

“It is not enough, university administrators say, to change the way they select students; they must also change the students themselves, and begin to do so long before the time arrives to fill out applications,” says the article.

The story highlights 18-year-old Erick Ramirez, who attends Anaheim High School and was just accepted to San Francisco State University. He was able to do that through the help of representatives from the University of California, Irvine, working with him over a three-year period after school and on weekends. They focused on topics such as classwork, test prep and applying for financial aid.

According to the article, UC-Irvine spends more than $7 million a year on out reach. That includes working with low-income students. Part-time employees and college students often work with schools.

UC Irvine graduate and current employee Cristina Flores helps students attending Century High School in Santa Ana with tasks including filing out college applications. She worked with Jasmin Rodriguez, 17, who plans to attend UCLA next year.

“Without their guidance, I would have been so lost,” Jasmin told the Times. “There’s so many little things you don’t know unless someone tells you.”

Arizona State University Outreach Program Targets Latino Parents

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

Arizona State University administrators are working on recruiting more first-generation Latino college students — by including parents in their outreach efforts.

The Future Sun Devil Families program offers workshops to families, with students grades 9-12 and their parents learning side-by-side.

The Arizona Republic recently profiled one Hispanic family participating in the program: high school junior Breanna Angulo, the daughter of Mexican immigrants. Neither of her parents went to college: her father is a construction worker, and her mother works the night shift as a hospital clerk.

Breanna took notes on the grades and classes required to be admitted to the university during a recent session.

“It’s about closing the achievement gap, so we’re doing our part to fulfill that,” said Beatriz Rendon, associate vice president of education outreach and students services at ASU, in the article.

According to the article, the ASU freshman class is about 23 percent Hispanic.

The program includes seven two-hour workshops during the school year at local high schools. Teens and parents learn together about topics such as how to apply to college and for financial aid. Sessions are led in Spanish and English. About 700 parents and students are now participating in the program.

Workshop topics differ depending on a student’s grade level. For example, 12th graders learn about committing to an academic major, while 11th graders learn about leadership skills.

Students with a GPA or 2.5 or higher can apply to participate, and must be enrolled in certain districts, including the Phoenix Union High School District, Tempe Union High School District and Mesa Public Schools.

According to the university, program benefits include making direct connections with ASU representatives, interacting with peer mentors, and more opportunities to receive competitive need-based scholarships.

Despite participating in the program, Breanna believes she will need to attend community college first because of tight finances.

“I’m scared,” she told the Republic. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to [go to a four-year university out of high school]. Because I know the money issue is is going to be really big.”

Still, her longterm goal is to transfer to and graduate from a university, and such programs are trying to ensure than happens.

- Future Sun Devil Families

- Access ASU

Most Colorado Latino College Students Need Remediation

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

A new report by Colorado higher education officials finds that in 2012, almost 78% of Latino students enrolled in the state’s two-year colleges need remedial education. Latino students fared better at four-year colleges, where 40% need remedial courses.

By comparison, 57% of white students needed remediation at two-year colleges and 19% at four-year colleges. African-American students fared the worst, with 90% needing remedial coursework at two-year schools and 56% at four-year schools.

The report by the Colorado Department of Higher Education breaks out the rates and numbers of students by college and university. The state also tracks the figures by school district and high school. THe highest rate was found to be 95% at Emily Griffith Opportunity School in Denver Public Schools, and the lowest at just 2% at D’Evelyn Senior High School in the Jefferson County School District.

About 51% of all students needed remediation in math, 31% in writing and 18% in reading.

Even if you’re not a reporter in Colorado, find out how your state tracks remediation rates. Examining which high schools graduate the most students requiring remedial courses can often be just as illuminating as looking at the graduation rates.

- “40% of Colorado high school grads need remediation before college,” The Denver Post.

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.

Analysis Challenges Calif. School District’s Touted Achievements

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

The San Jose Unified School District set a lofty goal 11 years ago. The district announced that all students would be required to pass the classes needed to be admitted to California’s public universities.

At first, the majority-Latino school district earned accolades for its seemingly miraculous success. Other districts wanted to emulate San Jose.

But an analysis of data by The Los Angeles Times and The Hechinger Report casts doubt on the district’s much-touted achievements.

The news outlets found that the majority of the district’s students are not qualifying to attend a state university–and that the percentage of students qualifying has barely budged in all the years since the policy change.

In 2000, prior to the program’s implementation, about 40% of students met requirements to enter the University of California or California State university system. By 2011, despite the program’s implementation, only about 40.3% of students qualified.

Even worse, the analysis found that only about one out of five Latino and black students who began high school in 2007 were eligible to apply to state colleges after four years. (During the 2011-12 school year, about 52% of the students were Latino.)

So how did it come to pass that the district was able to claim so many students were graduating that were qualified to be admitted to college? The article mentions that the number of qualified students was overestimated because the district misreported data by counting seniors who had not yet completed their college-level coursework as having done so.

Two loopholes also played a role. Students could meet requirements by earned just a “D” in their classes, even though universities required a “C.” In addition, students were allowed to transfer to alternative schools with less challenging coursework if they were struggling in school.

Latino students, in particular, struggled. As a result, many ended up pushed out of the regular high schools and attending less-demanding alternative schools. The story notes that alternative programs enrolled about 50% more Latinos than regular high schools.

“The ethnic imbalance is ironic given that San Jose’s college-prep program grew out of concern that far too many Latino students, the largest group in the district, were not on track for college,” the article notes.

The Contra Costa Times reported that school district officials defended the program.

“We are clearly in a better place than we were,” Superintendent Vincent Matthews told the newspaper. “However, clearly, we still have a long way to go.”

The paper notes that the district places in the middle of the pack among the 11 districts in Santa Clara County, in terms of the percentage of Hispanic graduates meeting requirements for entering state universities. For the class of 2011, the percentage was 26.6%, compared to a high of 44.1% in Palo Alto Unified School District.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is moving toward new standards that will require this year’s freshmen to pass a certain number of college-prep courses with a D or better to graduate, and eventually move toward requiring a C or better for next year’s freshmen. It remains to be seen what sort of impact that may have on the district’s students, and in particular, the Latino majority.

- “San Jose Unified defends 40 percent college-preparation rate,” Contra Costa Times.

- San Jose Unified School District

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