Research on Educational Equity for Latinos Seeks to Reverse a Growing Trend

By Leanne South

The Hispanic population is growing faster than any other ethnic group in the United States. Unfortunately, so is the dropout rate. The late Carlos H. Cantu ’55, former CEO of ServiceMaster and the son of Mexican immigrants, was acutely aware of the growing crises and in 1999 funded the Carlos H. Cantu Hispanic Education and Opportunity Fund specifically to address the Latino dropout problem.

The Cantu endowment found a home in a political science research program that focuses on educational equity for ethnic minority students. Researchers with the Texas Educational Excellence Project (TEEP) have spent the past seven years studying a broader set of standards other than just test scores to determine educational policy’s effect on equitable and quality educational achievement for all Texas public school students.

The research effort is directed by political science professor Kenneth J. Meier and a staff of about a dozen graduate students. Their past reports reveal that many variables are involved in academic performance and that successful programs demonstrate one key principle: People are more important than programs. “Programs only work when the school system has the talent to effectively implement them,” Meier says.

Meier adds that successful schools all have high standards and expect all students (regardless of their background) to meet these standards. Such schools have a stable consistent curriculum and long-term stable leadership (often promoted from within the school district). These leaders deal with political problems and create the space for their teachers to teach.

“A well-led school district with committed teachers is likely to make virtually any program work,” says Meier. As an example, Meier notes that bilingual education programs and ESL programs are equally effective. The key is serving all who need to be served rather than whether the intent is to maintain Spanish or to provide a rapid transition to English.

Using funds from the Cantu endowment, Texas A&M University hosted two national conferences on the Latino dropout issue. The first discussed what many experts believed were the key problems associated with the problem. Meier, his graduate students and others then researched the various aspects discussed during the conference. The second conference, held in 2004, blended the best results on Latino educational achievement with the best practices in schools and the pressing political and policy issues facing Texas education. More than 200 school administrators and teachers joined state and federal officials in discussions.

The conference findings will be published in a forthcoming book. A key message is that the Latino dropout problem is the result of a series of educational failures — low attendance, inability to speak and read English, lack of challenging classes, poor performance in classes and on standardized tests, dropping behind in terms of credits and then dropping out of school. Rene Rocha, a political science doctoral student, has written a chapter for the upcoming book that describes the kinds of programs that have effectively addressed the dropout problem on the basis of interviews with school administrators throughout Texas. He notes that school districts with low dropout rates tend to have administrators who have, as part of their responsibilities, dropout prevention.

“They also have a sense of the ‘broader’ causes of dropouts, including family issues and economic needs,” Rocha says. “Such districts typically have programs focused on outreach or even programs that allow students to obtain part-time employment while remaining in school. Lastly, such districts tended to view attendance as the most immediate cause of dropouts and often had accelerated credit recovery programs in place.”

Meier now wants to use the Cantu endowment to research other factors that contribute to the educational challenges Latino students face, such as inadequate health care, a lack of stable job opportunities or the highly mobile nature of the Latino population.

“Only by addressing problems of access to quality education can we address policy goals in areas such as employment, health, crime, housing and political representation.”