1. PATRICIA GÁNDARA UCLA March 12, 2010 CALSA

3. Why Does it Matter?  California is NOW a Latino state: 52% of K-12 students are Latino.  By 2025, California will be short 1 million college degrees to fill existing positions  By 2020, 11% decline in per capita income in CA; (40% increase between 1980- 2000)  California is on the brink of economic disaster if it does not better educate these students

4. The Broken Pipeline Problem Begins Before Kindergarten

5. And Doesn’t Improve with Time

6. High School Completion, 2008  96% of Asian Students  94% of White Students  88% of Black Students  68% of Latino Students  National Center for Education Statistics, 2009

7. Is language the problem?  Educational policies/interventions for Latinos have focused on learning English, BUT  Middle class immigrant Latinos with consistent schooling abroad typically out-perform native-born Latino students  Over-emphasis on language has obscured the deeper problems of inadequate schooling and harsh social conditions  Over-emphasis on language has also led to counter- productive language policies, e.g, “English as quickly as possible”

8. Speaking another language is NOT a deficit  But we treat it like a deficit;  Policies that focus on English ASAP shortchange students’ academic education  Data from states that have adopted English only policies show policy failure; Gaps are bigger in those states  Research shows both academic and cognitive advantages of bilingualism  Bilingualism is a cultural and labor market asset  But most English learners are taught in English only by monolingual teachers

9. Conditions for Latino Students  According to international comparisons, 37% of Latino youth live in poverty  73% are eligible for free/reduced lunch  More than 60% of Latinos in cities in the west attend hyper-segregated schools (90%+)  1/3 of Latino families are without health insurance  Highest residential mobility; unstable parental employment  Half of all Latino babies are being born to single moms--fastest growth for any group  The best predictor of school performance is parent education and 40% of Latino parents have not completed high school

10. The Growing Gap: Percent K-12 Students with Parents with BA +, 1979-2006 Source: NCES, 2008.

11. Current Education Policies/Practices Don’t Address the Real Problems  Higher standards without sufficient resources  Blaming teachers instead of supporting them  Sole focus on “achievement” instead of drop out  Charter schools: more segregated and serve few English learners  English only instruction and assessment in English for students who don’t speak English  Emphasis on narrow set of skills  Ignoring the cultural and linguistic assets of Latino children...and funds of knowledge of parents  Little focus on poverty reduction

12. We need :  A campaign to prepare more Latino and bilingual teachers  Strong, affordable preschool education for Latinos  Acknowledge schools can do much but cannot do it all; bring social and health services to the schools  To better educate Latino parents to advocate for their kids  To build on students’ linguistic assets  Focus more on drop out prevention and school engagement  Find creative ways to break down the isolation in which Latino students live and go to school