Report: Latino achievement gap in R.I. among largest in U.S.

THE EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENT GAP between Latino and white students in Rhode Island is among the largest in the nation, according to a study by Roger Williams University's Latino Policy Institute.
THE EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENT GAP between Latino and white students in Rhode Island is among the largest in the nation, according to a study by Roger Williams University's Latino Policy Institute.

(Updated, 11:35 a.m.)

PROVIDENCE – While Latinos struggle in Rhode Island’s public schools, as evidenced in the results of a new study, they also represent a majority of the student population in urban districts, and an important segment of the state’s future workforce.

Those are the takeaways that Anna Cano Morales, director of the Latino Policy Institute, thinks matter most when assessing the results of the LPI’s latest study, “Latino Students in Rhode Island: A Review of Local and National Performances.” LPI is a nonprofit affiliated with Roger Williams University.

One of the findings in the report is that the education of Latinos in Rhode Island reflects an achievement gap, compared with white students, that is among the 10 worst in the country.

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Coupled with fast population growth here and nationally, as well as pronounced economic disparities, English language learning, which is the study of English language as a second language is, the study says in “a crisis” in this state.

Other findings in the research report, “Latino Students in Rhode Island: A Review of Local and National Performances,” show that nearly three out of four students in Rhode Island’s urban communities are Latino and that Latinos were responsible for all of the state’s population growth between 2000 and 2010.

In addition to being the majority of the student population in Providence and Central Falls schools, Latinos score two to three grade levels behind their white peers in reading and math, LPI reports.

Morales says that these finding are a call to action and must command public leaders’ attention, because Latinos are “no longer the newcomer group.”

“Three of four students in Pawtucket, Central Falls and Providence are Latino,” Morales said. “We’ve beyond arrived. We are the majority population in the urban school district. Therefore, we feel strongly everything having to do with education in the urban districts needs to reflect that demographic.”

That added presence has implications for the state’s workforce as well, she said.

“This is our future workforce,” Morales said. “As the state of Rhode Island has an aging workforce, the Latino workforce is a young and growing population. So they could contribute to the state’s economic development if we educate them. We’re staring at the future workforce of Rhode Island: they’re in our urban districts.”

The study also includes recommendations for local policy makers and K-12 education leaders to begin to address what the institute sees as systemic impediments to achieving high academic performance for this diverse student body, including hiring more teachers with a Latino background.

When tested on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Latino students in the state score two to three grade levels behind their white classmates in mathematics and one to two grade levels behind in reading, the study found. Latinos in Rhode Island test one-half to one full grade level behind their Latino peers across the country on several measures.

The report reveals Rhode Island ranks as low as 40th and 41st among states in Latino student performance.

Socio-economic conditions, current urban school challenges, and the inefficiency of the English language learner programming in Rhode Island are among the key factors impeding Latino student achievement, according to the report.

While Latinos make up 75 percent of the English language learners in the state, ELLs in Rhode Island are among some of the lowest performing in the nation. In 8th grade mathematics, local ELL students ranked last when compared to fellow ELL students in the United States, the study says.

“We are working in Providence to ensure that every student is prepared to succeed on the first day of kindergarten and throughout their academic career,” said Providence Mayor Angel Taveras. “The Latino Policy Institute’s findings are an important reminder of the urgency we face in improving educational outcomes for all of our young people. I am confident that our schools will continue to develop support and programming to better educate and meet the unique needs of our students.”

The report also notes that reform efforts in Central Falls and Providence have improved overall student performance through parent engagement and other proactive practices. Central Falls High School, for example, has improved its graduation rates, increasing 17 percent in 2011 in addition to cutting its dropout rate substantially from 34 percent to 9 percent. School leaders in Providence also have taken proactive steps to explore the challenges facing ELL students.

“The challenges facing Latino youth in our local urban schools have not gone unnoticed,” said the superintendent of Central Falls schools, Frances Gallo. “The district currently requires all new hires to be steeped in teaching strategies for second language learners. The district’s goal is for 100 percent of our veteran teachers to be fully certified in second language learner instruction within five years. Now is the time for us to apply these same strategies across the urban school districts so that we are better serving all of our youth today.”

Among the other six recommendations in the report, the LPI suggests: re-envisioning ELL programming and instruction in core urban school districts and improving ELL programming; orienting the R.I. Department of Education more explicitly toward racial equity; and focusing on developing school cultures that foster relationships and personalized educational experiences for students.

Bringing leaders together is key, Morales said.

“You do that through leadership and the acknowledgement that our school systems’ demographics have changed dramatically. Central Falls and Providence are eager to work together to share best practices and what they’re doing around English language learners, the professional development that goes with that,” she said.

LPI is a research organization committed to generating and communicating non-partisan data about Latinos in Rhode Island, with the intention of stimulating public policy discourse and enhancing public understanding of Latino issues statewide.

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