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UW associate professor Frances Contreras and colleague Tom Stritikus, dean of the College of Education, sought to understand the reasons behind these data. The researchers conducted a study that included surveying and interviewing students, teachers, and parents in eight school districts in multiple district contexts in Washington State.

The study revealed a profound gap in student hopes and academic outcomes. Over 64 percent of Latino students — more than half of them children of immigrants — wanted to earn a bachelor's degree or higher, but lacked college knowledge and exposure to the process. Their parents — over 50 percent of whom had less than a grade-school education — also held high expectations for their children. Latino families lacked information about college entry requirements, scholarships, and financial aid. When they did get advice, it was typically from classroom teachers, not high school counselors.

"There is a school-within-a-school phenomenon for access to advanced placement and a college preparatory curriculum, and Latinos have limited access to these opportunities," says Contreras, who researches inequities that Latino and underrepresented students experience throughout the P-20 continuum.

One obvious barrier was language. Although 48.5 percent of parents said they needed bilingual services to communicate with teachers and staff, 35.4 percent were not offered a translator when interacting with them. Too often, schools relied on students to translate. "Schools could do themselves such a favor by better engaging parents — by mailing out school literature in Spanish, by having translation services for parents. Right now, only half the schools in the state do this — even though it's mandated by law," says Contreras.

The study noted bilingual teachers were in short supply, with a booming population of Latinos in the public education system. As a result, English Learning students were not, as required by federal mandates, receiving adequate bilingual support in mainstream classes and were often placed in EL programs that were not academically challenging and did not prepare students for college entry.

They also found many students were being taught by bilingual paraprofessionals who did not have the education, training, and experience of certified teachers. In addition, teachers turned to students to translate academic material for Latino peers — essentially denying bilingual students teacher content expertise. "We even had teachers who have used janitors as translators. That level of neglect is not acceptable," says Contreras.

Other barriers to higher education were more subtle. One was low teacher expectations. In a survey of 8th and 10th-grade teachers, more than 60 percent of teachers surveyed believed that less than 25 percent of their Latino students would go onto college. "The teachers may not think students have the aptitude to go to a four-year college and they encourage them to think about a trade, or a community college. This tracking happens very early on — definitely by middle school," says Contreras. "We suspect such low expectations contribute to Latinos' limited opportunities to learn."

The surveys revealed more examples of stereotyping and racist attitudes. One Mexican-American elementary school teacher told researchers her school's teachers and staff made derogatory comments such as: "We have too many damn Mexicans in our schools."

That teacher was one of the rare Latina teachers in our state, the study shows. While almost 15 percent of students in public schools are Latino, only 2.7 percent of teachers are. Increasing that percentage can make a huge difference in student experiences and pedagogical approaches, Contreras points out: "The students need teachers they can connect with, that their families can connect with — teachers who can serve as role models."

The study calls for colleges of education to "grow their own" cadres of bilingual, bicultural teachers by offering incentives such as full-tuition scholarships for students who'll work with first-generation families. It further encourages paraprofessionals currently working with Latinos to earn degrees and become certified teachers. Finally, the study recommends that all future teachers in the state develop the cultural competency to meet instructional and socio-cultural needs of EL students prior to certification.

School districts must look at the facts, says Contreras: Latinos are the fastest growing K-12 school population in public schools — one in every five kindergartners is now Latino — and they are consistently ranking at or near the bottom in achievement scores. "We can no longer afford to do what we've done in the past," she says. "The system has to do a better job of educating Latino students and helping them succeed if we are to keep a competitive edge in the global economy.

"We need the political will to see this as a vested interest

in our collective future."

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Contreras, F. Stritikus, T., Torres, K., O'Reilly-Diaz, K., Sanchez, I., Esqueda, M., Ortega, L., & Sepulveda, A.. (2008). Understanding Opportunities to Learn for Latin in Washington. Report prepared for the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs and Washington State Legislature. http://education.washington.edu/research/centers/proyecto_acceso/ContrerasCHAfinal.pdf

Proyecto Acceso (Project Access)

http://education.washington.edu/research/centers/proyecto_acceso/
Contreras, F. (2011). Achieving Equity for Latino Students: Expanding the Pathway to Higher Education through Public Policy. New York: Teachers College Press.

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