11.1.2005
The High Schools Hispanics Attend
Size and Other Key Characteristics
by Rick Fry
Most Hispanic students are educated at public high schools that have different characteristics than the public high schools educating white or black students. Hispanic youths are much more likely than white or black youths to attend public high schools that are large, that have a high student-to-teacher ratio, and that have a substantial proportion of students who come from relatively poor families.
The characteristics of high schools matter for student performance. Careful statistical studies have found that schools with larger enrollments are associated with lower student achievement and higher dropout rates. Similarly, research has shown that lower instructional resources as expressed in higher student-to-teacher ratios are also associated with lower school performance. Moreover, the effects of these structural characteristics on achievement appear to be greater in schools with higher concentrations of low socioeconomic status students.
Understanding structural factors such as size, school resources and school processes is important for both policy and research reasons. Much of the research on the achievement gap between Hispanics and whites has focused on the characteristics of the students--factors such as family income, nativity and parents' level of education and ability to speak English. While all of these factors are important, they do not produce a complete picture. Student characteristics alone do not explain the entire achievement gap. Examining the context of learning--most broadly the characteristics of schools--is also essential. Moreover, educators and educational policymakers have vastly more influence over the characteristics of their schools than the characteristics of their students.
Other Resources
National High School Association
The National High School Association is an inclusive organization committed to facilitating improvement in student learning and educational practices. Current research focuses on the quality of the nation's high schools.
Center on Research, Education, Diversity and Excellence
CREDE is a federally funded research and development program focused on improving the education of students whose ability to reach their potential is challenged by language or cultural barriers, race, geographic location, or poverty.
Public High School Graduation and College-Readiness Rates: 1991–2002
In this study by the Manhattan Institute finds that the high school graduation rate has been flat in the past decade (it was 71% in 2002) and the percentage of all students who leave school with the qualifications necessary to apply to college has increased (from 25% in 1991 to 34% in 2002).
The New Demography of America's Schools
U.S. schools are experiencing rapid demographic change due to high levels of immigration, while they at the same time they are implementing the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. This report by the Urban Institute describes the demographics of children of immigrants, and the considerable overlap among NCLB's protected groups: LEPs, low-income students, blacks, Hispanics and Asians in elementary and secondary schools.
Leaving Hometown High
A transcript of a forum sponsored by the Urban Institute on the condition of America's High Schools.
More on Education
Between Two Worlds: How Young Latinos Come of Age in America
Hispanics in the News: An Event-Driven Narrative
The Changing Pathways of Hispanic Youths Into Adulthood
Statistical Portrait of Hispanics in the United States, 2008
Statistical Portrait of the Foreign-Born Population in the United States, 2008