Addressing Risk Among Latino Students

May 10, 2011 - The 2010 Census confirmed what experts have long been saying: the Hispanic population in the United States is growing – and growing fast. In the past decade, Latinos accounted for more than half the total population growth, up from 35.3 million in 2000 to 50.5 million today. This trend has serious implications for the American public school system, with Latinos now accounting for 25 percent of children under the age of five. 

In Philadelphia, where the Hispanic population has increased by 44 percent since 2000, Penn GSE Professor John Fantuzzo has been looking at findings on the educational well-being of Latino children.

Findings were drawn from a study of third-graders attending district schools during the 2005-06 academic year. That year was the first in which all third-graders nationwide took the reading and mathematics tests mandated by the No Child Left Behind legislation passed in 2002.

A large percentage of all the children in the study struggled with proficiency in reading and math, classroom conduct, truancy, and suspensions. But Latino children were found to be faring worse in all areas except classroom conduct. Of the 12,046 children in Fantuzzo’s study, 15% were Latino.

But Fantuzzo wanted to understand why. If these children were not reaching proficiency, what was holding them back? What was behind being behind?

With his colleagues, he identified eight risks that contributed to poor academic outcomes: lead toxicity, preterm birth, low birth weight, inadequate prenatal care, being the child of a teen mother or a mother without a high school education, substantiated child maltreatment, and family homelessness.

The study also showed that Philadelphia third-graders – and Latino children in particular – faced substantially more early risk factors than their peers nationally.

In Philadelphia, 76% of Latino children live in poverty, compared to 19% of children nationwide. A greater proportion had teen mothers (31%) or mothers who hadn’t earned a high school diploma (35%) than children nationally (4% and 12%, respectively). And Philadelphia’s Latino children had a significantly higher risk than children nationally of lead exposure (15% vs. 3%) and maltreatment (10% vs. 1%).

Latino children did have a lower risk of homelessness than their national peers, presumably reflecting the strong role of family support in the Hispanic community.

To make matters worse, the more risks children face, the worse their academic performance and truancy rates. Given that poor academic performance and poor attendance are early warning signs for high school drop-out, Fantuzzo’s findings are particularly significant. The dropout rate for Latinos who start ninth grade in the Philadelphia School District is 44%, according to data cited by the Philadelphia School Reform Commission’s African American and Latino Male Dropout Task Force in its September 2010 report.

For Fantuzzo, however, risk isn’t the whole story.

Citing results from an early childhood education program that he and Penn GSE colleagues have piloted in Philadelphia Head Start classrooms, Fantuzzo explains that the curriculum produced superior language and mathematics results when compared to that used in control classrooms. Called EPIC, the scientifically based curriculum integrates early mathematics, language, literacy and learning behaviors.

Latino children who participated in the EPIC preschool program demonstrated substantial gains in academic outcomes. They responded especially well to instruction in learning behaviors (paying attention, dealing with frustration, problem-solving, and working with others). And while all these children benefited, those who spoke Spanish as their primary language surpassed their English-speaking peers.

In addition, their families showed high levels of participation in the program. Family learning activities, called Home Connections, are a key component of the EPIC curriculum, and over the course of the school year, families of Latino children returned 90% of the “homework” assignments.

For a summary of the findings Dr. Fantuzzo presented to leaders of Philadelphia’s Latino community, click here.