Why Do Schools Latino Students Attend

3.2 Schools and Teachers

3.2.1 The Condition of Schools Latino Students Attend

A very effective way to reach Latino students is through the schools they attend. This would also help to address the difficulties they face. If a family cannot support their children’s academic development, be it because they lack the resources or because they don’t have any experience with the US school system, it should be the responsibility of the schools to support these students in any way they can. Yet, according to Gándara and Contreras “the evidence suggests that rather than addressing the disadvantages these students face, the schools perpetuate it” (87). Michael E. Madrid even claims that “Latino high school students may be at risk simply because of the

Yet, many school seem to be unable to create a safe environment for their Hispanic students: Latino children are more likely to report that they feel unsafe at their school than white students (Gándara, Contreras 110). In 2005 “10 percent of all Latino students nationally reported that they were afraid of being attacked at school or on the way to school, compared to just 4 percent of white students” (Gándara, Contreras 110). Adding to that, some Hispanic children feel unsafe at their school for psychological reasons (Gándara, Contreras 111). They are often excluded and discriminated by their classmates or feel like they don’t belong, because of language difficulties or the differences between the Latino and the US-American culture (Gándara, Contreras 111). The fear of bullying and verbal abuse, as well as the fear of physical violence, can influence a child’s educational attainment, which is why it is so important that students feel safe at the school they

For Latino students, however, it is of even greater importance to have skilled and well-prepared teachers than for their white peers. As explained above, many Latino families are unable to support their children the way white American parents can, which is why Latino students are often more dependent on their teachers than their classmates. Thus, the proficiency level (!) of the teachers a Latino student had may decide whether or not he or she will go to college. According to S.J. Dubner, instructing and hiring better teachers for Hispanic students could even close the achievement gap entirely (qtd. in Madrid 3). “Numerous studies have shown a clear relationship between the quality of teachers and the achievement of their students”, yet right now most Latino students are not instructed by the high-quality teachers they require (Gándara, Contreras 103). Instead, it has been found that Latino students are more likely than other students to be taught by incompetent and unqualified teachers (Madrid 3; Gándara, Contreras 103). Schools with a high percentage of minority students almost always have less qualified teachers than schools with a low percentage of minority students (Gándara, Contreras