Supporting Latino Students to Maximize their Potential

In "The Potential and Promise of Latino Students" (American Educator, Spring 2017), Patricia Gándara describes the changing cultural and linguistic portrait of Latino students in the USA while reflecting on their potential and areas of struggle. In the section, "Why Latinos Fall Behind," Gándara reflects on a common trend in schools to identify second-language acquisition as the primary factor impacting Latino student's academic performance and growth. I wanted to deconstruct several of her quotations and analyze the potential impact our Latino students. Quotation: "The simplistic and misguided explanation that language is the primary impediment to academic achievement overlooks the much more powerful role of poverty. Nearly two-third (62 percent) of Latino children live in or near poverty, and less than 20 percent of low-income Latinos live in households where anyone completed postsecondary education," (p.6).  Analysis: Although many of our Latino students are second language learners of English, our students are balanced bilinguals with most students dominant in English. While acquiring and interacting with the new English of language was a challenge during their primary years, their acquisition of English is rarely the most significant factor impacting their lives and their learning. On the other hand, the vast majority of our latino students are low-income and have very few (if any) family members who attended high school or college education. Study after study reveal the profound impact of poverty on physical and academic development, which impact creates a spider web of challenges in their lives. Quotation: They seldom encounter peers who are knowledgeable about opportunities outside their neighborhoods or who plan to pursue postsecondary education. Additionally, many parents may not have the time or knowledge to evaluate the quality of their children's education and may not feel empowered to press the schools to strengthen their offerings," (p.6). Analysis: With very few students whose parents attended secondary or post-secondary education, our students also reside in living communities where postsecondary education is not the norm and often seems a very far-fetched goal. Additionally, while Latino low-income parents often support our teachers and school unconditionally, these same parents often do not completely understand the educational field and do not feel empowered to advocate or criticize. While it feels good to receive this respect, it's important to focus on empowering on our students and families to envision more from school than they can imagine. Quotation: "The newcomers are acutely aware of the sacrifices their parents have made to come to the United States and often articulate a desire to pay them back by doing well in school. They strive to lift themselves and their parents out of poverty. As a result, they become real believers in the American dream," (p.7). Analysis: Immigrants move to the United States to realize the American dreams of achieving the middle class and more. While many misconceptions exist about Latinos rejecting American values and culture, Latino immigrants tend to do the exact opposite. Children of recent immigrants desperately strive to acculturate and/or assimilate as quick as possible even when this means the devaluation of their own language and culture. In general, they believe in the American dream and strongly support American values and cultures. Quotation: "However, when the social and economic mobility has failed to materialize after the second generation, and students find themselves trapped in the same low-income setting with few observable prospects, motivation wanes and they develop a negative view of school. Education then comes to represent failure rather than opportunity and threatens their self-worth. As a result, it can make more sense for them to reject school before it rejects them," (p.7). Analysis: Although children of immigrants tend to develop extreme valuation of the American dream through local cultures and norms, Latinos see previous generations not actualize success through schools, which results in a disillusionment with the benefit of the institution. When students see previous generations and their own generation consistently fail in school, they develop a psychological healthy defense where they reject the system before they feel rejected. Every day I think about how I can help maintain the alignment with the student and school by finding ways for them to achieve to their highest potential.

| Attachments:  The Potential and Promise of Latino Students.pdf