Latino/Hispanic Culture in the Classroom

Mary Kempen and Jodie Haney

Who is Latino? Who is Hispanic?
Cultural Values
Loyalty

Family

Respect for authority

Gendered stereotypes
Statistics
Hispanics are the fastest-growing ethnic minority
One-third of Hispanic students perform below grade level
50+ percent of Hispanic dropouts have less than a 10th-grade
education.
29% immigrant Latinos (18-25) say they plan to get a bachelors
degree
60% of native-born young Latinos say the same.
Achievement Gap

girls boys
Latino 54 51
Native Americans 72 70
African Americans 73 71
Whites 84 83
Asian Americans 78 83
Percent of students who start elementary school that graduate high school (data from year 2000)
(UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center report, 2006) (Cited in Arizona State Center for Community
Development and Civil Rights 2007)
Achievement Gap

girls boys
Mexican Americans 47 44
Puerto Ricans 65 62
Cubans 63 63
Dominicans 51 51
Salvadorans 36 36
Percent of Latino students who start elementary school that graduate high school (data from year
2000)
(UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center report, 2006) (Cited in Arizona State Center for Community
Development and Civil Rights 2007)
Achievement Gap
Advanced Courses
Financial pressure to support a family
Limited English skills
Different cultural backgrounds


Poverty
Financial difficulties
Lack of educational attainment
Poor access and utilization of resources

Reasons for Achievement Gap -- Poverty
Students lack confidence they can afford or otherwise attain a college
education

Cultural pressure to financially support extended family

Families move to find work

Students attend resource-poor schools
Gender Issues
Young Mothers
Modeling their parents
Reasons for Achievement Gap Gendered Stereotypes

Cultural pressure for boys to prove independence early


Cultural pressure for girls to assume submissive and caretaker roles


Gender role expectations regarding extra-curricular activities


Immigration
Foreign vs. Native born
Sending money back to families
Language barriers



Reasons for Achievement Gap Immigration
Limited English proficiency

Low parental involvement in schools

How to Help
Small learning communities / school-within-a-school

Culturally relevant curriculum

Academic/personal mentoring and student resilience

Manageable school reform

How to Help
Community-School Support Cooperatives

Early-childhood programs with outreach to Latinos

Dual-language programs for English Language Learners

Support for parenting students

How to Help
Talk early and often with students about their short and long-term
aspirations.

Provide guidance on prerequisites for post-secondary education.

Expose students to the outside world.

References
American Federation of Teachers: Challenges and Opportunities Facing Hispanics in America Today Retrieved from:
http://www.aft.org/yourwork/tools4teachers/hispanic/challenges.cfm
Arizona State Center for Community Development and Civil Rights. (2007). Pathways to prevention: The Latino male dropout crisis.
Retrieved from http://cdcr.asu.edu/publications/publications-folder/latino_male_droput07wcoverb.pdf.1
"Countries Compared by Education > Duration of compulsory education. International Statistics at NationMaster.com", UNESCO.
(2000). Aggregates compiled by NationMaster. Retrieved from http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Education/Duration-of-
compulsory-education
Cummins, J. (2000). Academic language learning, transformative pedagogy, and information technology: Towards a critical balance.
TESOL Quarterly, 34.
Garza, R.E. and Garza, E. (2010). Successful white female teachers of Mexican American students of low socioeconomic status.
Journal of Latinos and Education 9(3), 189-206.
Griggs, S. and Dunn, R. (1996). Hispanic American students and learning style. ERIC Digest. Retrieved from
http://www.ericdigests.org/1996-4/hispanic.htm
Martinez, Domingo. (2012).The boy kings of Texas: A memoir. Guilford, CT: Lyons Press, Globe Pequot.
Marschall, M. (2006). Parent involvement and educational outcomes for latino students. Review of Policy Research, 23(5), 1053-1076.
National Womens Law Center and Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. (2009). Listening to Latinas: Barriers to
high school graduation. Retrieved from http://maldef.org/assets/pdf/ListeningtoLatinas.pdf
Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project: Latinos and Education: Explaining the Attainment Gap Retrieved from:
http://www.pewhispanic.org/2009/10/07/latinos-and-education-explaining-the-attainment-gap/
Rubinstein-Avila, Eliane. (2006). Connecting with Latino learners. Educational Leadership 63 (5), 38-43.
Strategies for Improving the Educational Outcomes of Latinas. ERIC Digest. Retrieved from: http://www.ericdigests.org/2002-
2/latinas.htm