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That Matters

It doesn't matter if they are first-generation or fifth-generation Americans, students from underrepresented or immigrant backgrounds continue to be thwarted in an education system full of inequities: English Learners (EL) are often sidetracked into mediocre classes and stigmatized by peers; many teachers hold low expectations for minorities; and immigrant parents may have little idea of how to guide their children into the college-prep track.

Disengagement from the system can begin early if students find their language, culture, and history conspicuously absent from classroom and curriculum. "One Filipino student we interviewed said he waited his whole high-school career to
hear something about his country. He heard one sentence," says College of Education professor Shirley Hune, whose research looks at achievement gaps for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Detachment coupled with low achievement is accelerated in schools where differences aren't embraced. "The United States is nearly alone among developed nations where being bicultural, bilingual, and biliterate is seen as a threat rather than an asset," says College of Education associate professor Frances Contreras, whose research examines barriers Latino students face in realizing college dreams.

This disconnect is no longer a sustainable model in a nation that is changing from a monolingual to a multicultural society. "Minority" students are becoming a demographic "majority" in the public schools; non-white students now comprise 54.8 percent of all students in the Western region of the U.S., due largely to high Latino birth rates and immigration, which is at its highest rate since the early 20th century.

Though many students of color are achieving academically, for struggling students who don't progress into college, lower levels of education could mean higher rates of unemployment and poverty, and higher participation in social welfare programs. And the nation may miss out on a wealth of multicultural resources. "Knowledge of other cultures and languages make a people and a nation more — not less — rich and economically competitive," says Hune.

Hune and Contreras — with a group of talented College of Education graduate and undergraduate students and other UW researchers — have worked with Washington State commissions on minority affairs to examine inequities and increase college access opportunities for underserved students.

Recommendations include:

• Developing meaningful reciprocal partnerships between schools and parents and their communities to support student learning. f Sending home language-sensitive materials and providing translators as needed for parent-teacher interactions.
• Ensuring teachers hold high expectations for multicultural students, who are bilingual and possess diverse funds of knowledge.
• Enhancing teacher preparation in culturally responsive approaches and practices, including a more inclusive curriculum.
• Addressing the needs of EL students, including access to
  a rigorous college-ready curriculum in high school to better prepare them for college.
• Providing professional development for teachers of EL students, and increasing the pool of bilingual, bicultural teachers in schools.
• Increasing financial assistance and scholarship programs for low-income minorities pursuing higher education.

 

 

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