Imagine...

15%
Hispanics ages 25 to 29, just 15% of Hispanics have a bachelor’s degree or
higher. By comparison, among the same age group, about 41% of whites
have a bachelor’s degree or higher (as do 22% of blacks and 63% of Asians)

-Pew Research Center

Hispanic Student
Achievement
By Maria Cuenca
AP Research
2017-2018
1 3

1
USCIS Fees to Increase in December. (2016, October 27). Retrieved April 17, 2018, from http://immigrationimpact.com/2016/10/26/uscis-fee-increase-2016/
2
Daley, F. (2016, February 17). Six Reasons for Lack of Self-Knowledge #2. Retrieved April 17, 2018, from https://thedaleypost.com/2016/02/19/six-reasons-for-lack-of-self-knowledge-college-1-continued/
3
International Journal of Economics & Management Sciences. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2018, from https://www.omicsonline.org/scholarly/socioeconomic-planning-sciences-journals-articles-ppts-list.php
“The Crisis in the Education of Latino
Students”

● Patricia Gandara: professor of Education in the Graduate School

of Education at the University of California–Los Angeles
● She asks three questions:
○ Is there really a Latino Education Crisis, or is it just a passing
phenomenon attributable to recent high immigration?
○ If there is a crisis, what are its dimensions and what has caused it?
○ What are some of the policies that we must consider to effectively
address the crisis?

Singh, A. (2009, March 02). The crisis in Latino education: 10 questions for Patricia Gándara. Retrieved April
17, 2018, from http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/the-crisis-in-latino-education-83948
Is there really a Latino Education Crisis, or is
it just a passing phenomenon attributable to
recent high immigration?

According to Claudio Sanchez, an

Education Correspondent for NPR,
Hispanic students and their families
have faced hardships since the mid
1900s

Sanchez, C. (2016, November 15). Tougher Times For Latino Students? History Says They've Never Had It Easy. Retrieved April 18, 2018,
from https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/11/15/502011688/tougher-times-for-latino-students-history-says-theyve-never-had-it-easy
If there is a crisis, what are its
dimensions and what has caused it?

Hispanic students were separated because of

their lack of:

● English language,
● Proper health habits, and
● Training in morals, manners and
cleanliness

Sanchez, C. (2016, November 15). Tougher Times For Latino Students? History Says They've Never Had It Easy. Retrieved April 18, 2018,
from https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/11/15/502011688/tougher-times-for-latino-students-history-says-theyve-never-had-it-easy
Factors Affecting Second Language
Acquisition - TESOL* Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages,

1. Learner characteristics or
personal traits
2. Situational or
environmental factors
3. Prior language
development and
competence

The Education System: "Now Climb That Tree". (2014, December 18). Retrieved April 18, 2018, from
https://marquetteeducator.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/climbthattree/
Overcoming Language
and Cultural Barriers in
School
RESEARCH QUESTION
To what extent is the educational achievement gap among Hispanic
High School Students in North Carolina due to a lack in teacher
instruction on the necessary approaches for the educational
development of immigrant students in terms of their standardized
test scores, graduation rates, and course rigor?
THE MIXED METHOD:
Survey and Interview
 Teacher Interviews

Semi-Structured Interview

● Guiding questions:
○ What is your teaching philosophy?
○ How would you describe the structure of your classroom
management?
○ Do you encounter any challenges?
○ How would you describe the experience of the ESL student in this
classroom?
○ Has anyone reached out to you for tips and advice on how to help
these students?
● Analyzed interviews and coded each transcript into 3 sub focuses:
■ Emotional Responses
■ Philosophical/Classroom Structure Responses
■ Background Responses
Student Surveys
● Two Hispanic Student groups
○ Initiative program vs non Initiative
program
○ ESL vs Non-ESL Students
● Two separate surveys were conducted
via a Google Form
○ Spanish
○ English
● 16 Participants
FINDINGS AND DATA
INTERVIEW
TEACHER “A” “harder on me and tiring”

“I still struggle with differentiating from language

and not necessarily ability.”

“frustrated because I feel like I am not reaching

them. And I feel frustrated because I don’t know

Emotional Response
what they need.”

“feels bad [that] it is not really respectful work.”

INTERVIEW
TEACHER “B” “I also don’t want them to speak anything but

English...I know the fastest way and most

uncomfortable way to learn English is called

baptism by fire.”

“then [the bilingual students] were able to then just

Philosophical and Background
Response focus on their learning and not other peoples

learning.”

“not just students but humans rise to expectations,”

“kind of took ideas from my experiences overseas

and then I try to use those but holding on to high

expectations.”
INTERVIEW
TEACHER “C” “the phrase growth mindset...to me they’re all the

same but they are not all at the same point.”

“everyone can learn, but that’s naive in a way.”

“try to find a student who does speak a Spanish.”

“being open with them and not scare them to death

Philosophical Response
that they’re not going to come to you. Let them

verbalize that I’m here to help you.”

“but that’s one thing I have an issue with,

standardized testing because it’s in English.”

INTERVIEW
TEACHER “D” “I want the kids to get it.”

“we got books in Spanish even though it’s not the

version we use, and I translated their tests into

spanish, I try to translate anything digitally.”

“survive luckily so I paired them and that seemed to

Classroom Structure Response
help” and with “the ones that came regularly, I

paired them with a dual bilingual student and that

seemed to help as well.”

INTERVIEW
TEACHER “E” “I started assigning books for me to read, I started

assigning topics.”

“I'm always buying books about teaching articles

and I read latest research ideas and I try things and

if it doesn't work I try something else.”

Background Response
“Teaching becomes easier so many things become

easier than it's really worth it to try to reach all of

your students.”

“it can sometimes feel like we're expected to do

everything.”
 STUDENT SURVEY RESULTS

Enrolled in Extracurricular
Honors participation

Non-ESL Students ESL Students Non-ESL Students ESL Students

 STUDENT SURVEY RESULTS

Satisfaction with Favorite Subject

GPA

Non-ESL Students ESL Students Non-ESL Students ESL Students

DISCUSSION AND
CONCLUSION
DISCUSSION (Interview)

Interview patterns

● Greatest obstacle is the language barrier

● Teacher B and Teacher E displayed the importance of helping the ELL students challenge

themselves and separating them from their bubble

● Teachers A, C, and D, described the idea of putting the ESL students next to a student who is

bilingual.

● All the teachers described that the help of the ESL trainings isn’t as beneficial as it should be
DISCUSSION (Survey)

● Hispanic ESL students are not challenging themselves to take rigorous courses
● Extracurricular participation is very low compared to other students
● They have the wish to progress
● But are limited in what they can achieve due to their lack of interest in other subjects
other than math and PE
CONCLUSION

● Hypothesis is true to an extent

● Teaching teachers to Giving students the real
○ Sympathize opportunity to choose to
○ Challenge the students succeed
● Creating an Initiative program in the school
Imagine….
Citations

Gándara, P. (2008). The Crisis in the Education of Latino Students. Retrieved November 05, 2017, from
http://www.nea.org/home/17404.htm

Robinson, N., Keogh, B., & Kusuma-Powell, O. (n.d.). Chapter 6: Who Are ESL Students? Retrieved
November 5, 2017, from https://www.state.gov/m/a/os/44038.htm

Sparks, S. D. (2017, March 23). Teaching English-Language Learners: What Does the Research Tell Us?
Retrieved December 15, 2017, from
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/05/11/teaching-english-language-learners-what-does-the-resear
ch.html

Schneider, B. (1970, January 01). Barriers to Educational Opportunities for Hispanics in the United States.
Retrieved November 05, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19909/
Hispanic Student
Achievement
By Maria Cuenca
AP Research
2017-2018
Student Survey Results
From a scale 1-5, how often do you raise your hand to answer a question?

(Non ELL Students) (ELL Students)

Student Survey Results
From a scale 1-5, how often do you raise your hand when you have a question?

(Non ELL Students) (ELL Students)

Student Survey Results
From a scale from 1-5, how often do you stay after school or receive help outside the
classroom?

(Non ELL Students) (ELL Students)