Latino ELL Students: A Case Study

According to a Pew Research Center survey “among Hispanics ages 25 to 29, just 15% of Hispanics had a bachelor’s degree in 2013” (Krogstad). This is worrying; it is great to analyze the lack of Hispanics higher education in the United States and the State of Kansas something that one cares about by using statistics and information about the racial gap in educational attainment that explains the lower rates in Hispanics. Hispanics lowest rates of college degree attainment are a result of immigration growth, parental lower incomes, family socioeconomic status, family cultural background, and poor parental involvement.

The Latino population in the United States is one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the country and in 2014 a new record of Latino population was set of 55.4 million, an increase of 1.2 million of the year prior (Krogstad and Lopez, 2015). Since the population of Latinos increased so did the rate of Latinos attending college. One of the major problems we have related to higher education in America is that the Latino male community possesses the lowest high school graduation rate and also the lowest college enrollment of any subgroup (Sáenz and Ponjuán, 2012). Latino males endure many different challenges before heading off to college and while attending college such as being home sick, not fitting in, being discriminated against, experiencing

Patricia Gándara writes about the crippling segregation within our modern school system for Latino students in her essay Overcoming Triple Segregation. She examines the Latin American’s struggle for education by pointing out how not only are they segregated racially; but socioeconomically and linguistically. Gándara states that segregation towards Latinos will result small amounts of academic success and fewer citizens entering the workforce. Then the article takes a turn to advocate the use of bilingual classrooms, stating that by assimilating them into our culture, they will be able to become successful future contributing members of society. Gándara states that Latinos are forced to overcome the racial hostility placed before them, a lack

In this practicum I will narrate an interview that was done with a Hispanic parent. I will describe her and her family structure. I will also elaborate on her involvements in her children academics, and teacher parent relationship. Also better ways to encourage parents to get involved in their children education will be added, and how teachers can assist with making the parents feel welcomed inside of the classroom.

On September 2015, the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, marked its 25th anniversary. With the shift of the nation’s demographics, higher education is concerned with the academic success of Latinos. Not only is the federal government addressing issues of access and equity for underserved minorities’ populations, but higher education is playing a crucial role in reducing the academic achievement gaps for Latinos.

A classroom should be filled with a wide variety of languages, experiences, and cultural diversity. An effective teacher understands the importance of culturally responsive teaching, and recognizes the significance of including students ' cultural references in all aspects of learning. Having an enriching classroom that engages all students does not mean making judgments about a student’s culture based on their skin color, gender, or socioeconomic status, rather it means knowing each student in a way that is individualized. According to the authors of The First Day of School: How to be an Effective Teacher Harry Wong, race, gender, religion, financial statue, and skin color is the least important factor determining a student’s achievement. Moreover, demographics and culture are not an excuse for students’ lack of achievement. (pg.80) Acknowledging and embracing a student’s racial or ethnic background is important, but it is just a piece of the educational puzzle. Effective teachers must be culturally responsive, with fine-tuned classroom management skills, and high expectations for all their students.

One of my biggest supporters are my parents. Their support and conviction about the worth of acquiring an education has shaped my beliefs, values and ambition to continue higher education and use my career in a progressive way to give back to my community. Unfortunately, not everyone had the same support system like I did. Many of my peers struggled whether to continue their education or financially support their family. This is a very dangerous reality within the Latino community that needs to be addressed and resolved immediately. An education should be a priority to all students and we, as the Latino community, must reshape the policy flaws to establish a foundation that will help the growing Latino community.

The share of Latino immigrants in the United States is rapidly increasing. In fact, 17 percent of Latino students who are enrolled in public schools are undocumented (Perez, 2010). The growth in the presence of Latino immigrants is especially true in California. Currently, California holds the largest concentration of undocumented Latinos (Perez, 2010). As a result, the state has enacted policies, such as Assembly Bill 540 (AB 540) and its follow-up law, the California Dream Act, so that higher education would become more accessible to students without legal status. Since Latino immigrants will constitute an increasingly significant proportion of the workforce, it is important that these individuals have the opportunity to take advantage

There are various cultural differences that teachers are likely to come across culturally diverse classrooms including Gender, Age, Cognition, Norms, beliefs, Primary language, Exceptionality, Cultural heritage, Socio-economic status, Opinions, ideas, Attitudes, Expectations, Behavioral styles, Geography, Learning styles, Communication Styles, Decision making styles, Ways of Communicating Non-verbally, Ways of Learning, Ways of Dealing with Conflict, Ways of Using Symbols and Approaches to completing tasks etc.

The United States is a place of freedom. We are a mixing pot that unifies as one. Many religions, cultures, and languages make their home in the Unites States. Many foreigners see the U.S. as an opportunity to seek better lives and education, but when it comes to foreigners and native-born non-English speakers that do not yet know English, it becomes a little more difficult to go about an average day let alone make a better future. Children in school often become English Language Learners, or ELL, to assimilate to the American standards. It is a hard journey for both the students, families, and the teachers. But, their journey is not taken alone since there are about 5 million English language learners in the United State.

Additionally, it was noted by Mendez et al (2015) that many students, specifically Latino English language learner students’ were able to learn through various modalities such as visual cues, answering questions, writing, and drawing as it was related to activities done in the classroom, that would allow them to reinforce their understanding of the meaning of new words.

We believe that teachers and parents are struggling to make their students and children involved in a different community from their original community. Because these students have different cultures, languages and values from their teachers who are doing their best to meet the needs of all international students (Shurki & Richard, 2009). The schools across the country today are looking for ways to welcome and assist immigrant families because they become a big part of their communities. So how these effect on each of students, teachers and parent?

Racial identity plays a role in the physical and psychological features of humans. Physically, humans in different parts of the globe endure different conditions and environments. Humans adapt to their environments and obtain different physical traits, henceforth, these physical traits have become adjacent to race. Psychologically, ancestral prejudices and influences throughout history have lingered through the generations and have impacted modern racial identities and tensions. Ethnic conflicts of the past such as the Social Darwinist theory of a "superior race" are morally refuted in current times, but that assumption had a brunt impact in which the world is still repairing today. All the circumstances of the past, good and bad, are what

Holtman, Diane. "Culture in the Classroom." Culture in the Classroom. Southern Poverty Law Center, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.

The most commonly accepted contemporary framework for viewing parental involvement was inspired by the ecological model of Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1986) and designed from a social and organisational perspective (Epstein, 1992). It identifies three major contexts within which children develop and learn: the family, the school, and the community (see Figure). The Overlapping Spheres of Influence model recognises that there are some practices that family, school and community conduct separately and that there are others that they conduct jointly in order to influence the growth and learning of the child. According to Epstein, successful partnerships must be forged between these three spheres in order best to meet the needs of the child. This model is thus philosophically aligned