A Multi-Perspective from Hispanic College Students
Introduction
By
Michelle Garcia (Undergraduate)
Juanita Torres (Undergraduate)
Dengting Boyanton (Instructor)
EDCI 4322 Human Development & Instruction
Many studies show that Non-Caucasian Hispanics have lower grades academically. Caucasian students are predominately better academic performers and have a higher percentage of students graduating from high school and attending college compared to minorities. Minorities have lower academic performance levels and have smaller percentage of students receiving a high school diploma or attending college compared to their Caucasian peers. This irregular correlation is especially visible between Hispanic students and Caucasian students.
There are gaps if you are interested you can go to the Brownsville Independent School District Web Site and check out the TAKS score for last year and you will see. They separate them by ethnicity as well. It shows that White Caucasian do higher than Hispanics or African American or low Income families which in the most part are Hispanics as well.—Mina, February 28, 2008, EDCI 4322-60
Why the achievement gap? This irregularity exists can have many possible reasons such as under-qualified teachers, inadequate resources and buildings, or funds to facilitate proper learning. Furthermore, culture must also be taken into consideration when questioning these percentages: What differs in the Caucasian culture from the Hispanic culture that may create a yearning for education and to better one’s place in society within the Caucasian culture? Also, history must not be ignored either: Do Caucasians have a better chance of becoming successful during and after high school than Hispanics because of their earlier arrival and societal establishment into the United States?
All these questions raise many concerns and even more questions: What are the parents doing to help their children? What can be done to promote education among Hispanic high school students? Do urban or rural settings make a difference in performance? When researched carefully, the reasons and solutions to this gap can be discovered.
Our hypothesis is that there may be several reasons for this, including feeling a sense of inferiority, parents’ lack of educational background, or lack of parents’ support or encouragement for their children’ education. Another possible important reason can be the Hispanic culture. All these are possible reasons for why there is an achievement gap.
This achievement gap is seriously affecting some of the Minority students’ life. Students who do not do well in school tend to drop out. Because they can not find good jobs to support their family, they have to apply for the welfare that the government offers.
Through this research, we intend to find out the reasons behind this achievement gap between Hispanics and Caucasian students and also provide possible solutions on how to close this gap. We strongly believe that closing this achievement gap will not only benefit us Hispanics as a group economically but also empower us as a group psychologically (e.g., not feel inferior). Specifically, this study tried to answer the following two research questions:
1. What causes the achievement gap?
2. How can we close this achievement gap?
To read more on Closing the Achievement Gap:
Greetings from the editor
Closing the Achievement Gap: Introduction
Gap reason 1: Historical perspective
Gap reason 2: Cultural perspective
Gap reason 3: Economical perspective
Gap reason 4: Linguistic perspective
Gap reason 5: Educational perspective
Gap solution 1: Individual
Gap solution 2: Parental support
Gap solution 3: Teachers
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