Report

Jul 1, 2010 — East Valley Tribune

Michelle Reese

Jul. 1, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- The achievement gap between Latino and white students has narrowed nationally, but there is still work to be done, according to a release this week by the Center on Educational Policy.

More Latino students showed proficiency on state reading and math exams in grades four and eight, as well as high school, in 2008 than in 2002, the report states.

The study broke down results by ethnic groups: Latino, black, Asian, Native American and white.

In Arizona, Latino students performed lower in reading than all other subgroups except Native Americans, the study showed. In math, Latinos fared better than blacks and Native Americans in grades four and eight. At the high school level, Latinos and blacks scored equally, with Native Americans lagging behind.

The Center on Educational Policy, a national independent advocate for public education, called for states and education policy makers to make changes, including:

--Looking at increasing the school day;

--Developing better state assessments to ensure English language learners are placed appropriately in education programs; and

--Training and hiring more Latino teachers who can serve as role models to Latino students.

April Osborn, executive director of the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education and the Arizona Minority Education Policy Analysis Center, said the state is doing more to address better education for all students.

"The gap that needs to be addressed first is about career and college readiness. The state's focus has been largely on the (pre-kindergarten) to 12 system and the reforms there," she said.

Among the positive changes have been increases in graduation requirements, additional requirements for teacher evaluations, the Move on When Reading bill that requires third graders to be able to read prior to advancing a grade, and another bill -- Move on When Ready -- that creates an alternative diploma for advanced, college-bound students.

"I think we've really awakened to the fact that some of our kids aren't getting all that they need and we're looking at reforms that will raise all the bars," Osborn said. "Everything we do is focused that way."

Five states -- Arizona, California, Texas, Florida and New York -- combine to hold 70 percent of the country's Latino students, with California having the largest percentage of Hispanic students compared to other groups.

Nationally, the Hispanic student population is the fastest growing subgroup of students in schools. Currently, more than one-fifth of the nation's public school students are Latino.

By 2025, the share of Latino children is projected to increase to nearly three in 10 school-age children in the United States, the report states.

In Arizona, about 56 percent of public school students are minorities, based on the latest enrollment figures from October. Latinos make up 41.4 percent of the student population in Arizona's public schools.

Osborn's group produced a report this spring that notes the increase in graduation rates for Latinos, though they still lag behind whites in Arizona.

"When looking at Latino students, we're constantly growing. Some of that growth is students who may have come to us in different ways. They may have a lack of English-speaking skills," she said. "If the parents don't speak the language at home, it's a much more challenging group."

Some of Arizona's goals, set forth in the recent Race to the Top application for federal education dollars, includes more changes.

"The realization of the state leadership now is we have to set the expectations high, then we have to put in place the pieces that will allow all students to rise to that expectation," she said.

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CONTACT WRITER: (480) 898-6549 or mreese@evtrib.com

By the numbers

Percent of students in racial subgroups scoring proficient

on 2008 state test

Native

Latino black Asian American white

Grade 4 reading

Arizona 58% 62% 82% 51% 83%

U.S. median 64% 58% 83% 62% 81%

Grade 4 math

Arizona 66% 64% 88% 56% 85%

U.S. median 67% 56% 88% 63% 82%

Grade 8 reading

Arizona 54% 59% 81% 48% 80%

U.S. median 58% 58% 83% 57% 81%

Grade 8 math

Arizona 49% 48% 81% 42% 75%

U.S. median 55% 46% 86% 54% 77%

High school reading

Arizona 60% 67% 85% 53% 87%

U.S. median 56% 53% 78% 57% 78%

High school math

Arizona 56% 56% 85% 47% 80%

U.S. median 50% 45% 81% 44% 71%

Source: Center on Education Policy

Newstex ID: KRTB-0132-46635424