The National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics

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The National Task Force on Early Childhood
Education for Hispanics

• Building a Strong Foundation
• Amara Scott Andrews
• Arizona State University
• Presented at Third Annual TNE-ELD Conference,
  November 6, 2006
• The University of Texas at El Paso

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The National Task Force on Early Childhood
Education for Hispanics

• Established in 2004 to determine how early
  childhood education can be expanded and improved
  in ways that would strengthen school readiness
  and academic achievement for Hispanic children.
• Funded initially by a grant from Foundation for
  Child Development and subsequent grants from A.L.
  Mailman Foundation, Marguerite Casey Foundation,
  Peppercorn Foundation and Winthrop Rockefeller
  Foundation.

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• Final Report in January
• Demographic brief
• Subsequent briefs on achievement, school reform
  strategies and availability of child care centers
  in Latino communities in January

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Building a Strong Foundation

• It is widely recognized that the rapidly growing
  Hispanic population is doing much less well
  academically than the White majority in the
  United States.
• This is very important because Hispanic
• children are 20 of the 0-8
• population.
• This is of particular importance
• here in Texas where 45
• of the 0-8 population is Hispanic
• (39.8 of the 0-8 population is White).

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Demographic Portrait of Young Hispanic Children

• In 2001, Hispanics became the countrys largest
  minority group 14.4 of the population.
• Rapid expansion is expected to continue for
  decades to come.
• High, sustained level of immigration
• Large number of young adults in family formation
  years
• Relative high total fertility rate among Hispanic
  women
• Hispanic share of the nations youngest children
  is considerably larger than their share of the
  population as a whole (20 versus 14 roughly)

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An Immigrant Population

• The vast majority of Hispanic children are either
  immigrants or from families in which one or both
  parents are immigrants.
• 64 of Hispanics ages 0-8 were either immigrants
  or children of immigrants.
• Only 36 were children with 2 US-born parents.

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Citizens

• 9 in 10 young
• Latino children are born
• in the US and are therefore citizens.
• Although Latino children are overwhelmingly
  citizens, their families differ from Whites
  demographically in four major ways that are
  correlated with large, well-documented
  differences in school readiness and academic
  achievement.

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Parent Education Levels

• Compared to Whites, young Latino children are
  much more likely to have parents who have not
  graduated from high school and much less likely
  to have parents who have a bachelors degree.
• These differences are even larger for Hispanic
  youngsters in immigrant families and are largest
  for Hispanic children of Mexican descent.

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Education Levels for Mothers of Children 0-8
Completed College Did not Complete High School Finished Only Grade 8 Finished Only Grade 4
Whites 30 9 1
Hispanic 10 46 20
Immigrants 8 54 29 9
Mexican Descent 4 64 36 11
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Implications

• It is not surprising that, across the
  industrialized world, children from families in
  which the parents have relatively little formal
  schooling are markedly overrepresented among low
  academic achievers in school
• On the other hand, those from families which the
  parents have a great deal of higher education
  are heavily overrepresented among students who
  excel academically.

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Texas

• These differences have some major implications
  for Texas
• 45 of the child population is Hispanic
• 85.3 of Hispanic children in Texas are of
  Mexican descent
• 49.3 of Mexican children live in immigrant homes
• In Texas, slightly greater numbers of Hispanic
  children had mothers who did not finish high
  school 47.4 of Hispanic youngsters (46
  nationally)
• In Texas, there is a great need to expand and
  improve early childhood education for Hispanics
  because of these parent education patterns.

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Child Poverty

• Consistent with the large differences in parent
  education levels, a much larger percentage of
  Latino children live in families that have
  incomes that fall below the federal poverty
  lines.
• 26 of Hispanics were below the poverty line
  compared to 9 of Whites
• 58 from low income (defined as twice the
  official poverty line) compared to 27 Whites

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Single Parent Families

• 23 of Hispanic children live in a single parent
  household compared to 15 of Whites
• This number is much higher for native-born
  parents 32
• Only 13 Hispanic children with immigrant parents
  live in a single parent home

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English Language Learners

• Because a large majority of young Hispanics have
  immigrant parents, a majority of the youngsters
  also have home environments in which Spanish is a
  primary or exclusive language.
• 19 only Spanish
• 35 mainly Spanish with some English
• 22 mainly English with some Spanish
• 21 English only
• Hispanic families living in poverty were even
  more likely to speak Spanish in the home.
• 28 only Spanish
• 15 only English

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Texas

• A little over 26 of Hispanics live in
  linguistically isolated homes.
• 32 have two LEP parents.
• 49 have either a LEP mother or father.

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Implications

• Considering these circumstances, it is not
  surprising that 30 of Hispanic children in a
  national sample did not have oral English skills
  strong enough at the start of K to be given a
  test designed to assess their English literacy
  skills. (ECLS-K)
• Moreover, because a large number of Hispanic
  children live in families with little formal
  education, not only is their English limited, but
  the parents may have weak academic Spanish as
  well.
• Hispanic students may
• start K without either the
• Spanish or English literacy
• foundations needed to get
• off to a good start.

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Academic Achievement

• Consistent with the demographic reality presented
  in the previous slides, Hispanic students have
  had much lower levels of academic achievement
  than Whites for many years.
• These differences in achievement have their
  foundations in infant/toddler and preschooler
  period.
• Hispanic youngsters are already behind their
  White peers when they start K.
• These gaps are fully formed by the end of the
  primary grades.
• What this means practically is that Hispanic
  students are overrepresented among students with
  such low achievement that they are at-risk of not
  graduating from high school and consequently are
  acutely underrepresented among those on course to
  be well prepared to attend highly selective
  institutions.

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Academic Achievement

• The Task Force commissioned an analysis of K-5
  reading and math achievement using data from
  ECLS-K

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Reading Proficiency Levels

• Level 1 Letter recognition
• Level 2 Beginning sounds
• Level 3 Ending sounds
• Level 4 Sight words
• Level 5 Comprehension of words in context
• Level 6 Literal inference from words in text
• Level 7 Extrapolating from text to derive
  meaning
• Level 8 Evaluating and interpreting beyond text
• Level 9 Evaluating nonfiction

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Scoring at Levels 1, 2, 3, 4 in Reading at
Start of Kindergarten
Group Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
Whites-3rd Gen. 73 34 20 4
All Hisp. 54 20 10 2
Mexican 51 19 10 2
Cuban 67 25 12 2
Puerto R. 62 26 14 2
C. Amer. 52 18 11 1
S. Amer. 60 26 15 5
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Scoring at Levels 6, 7, 8 9 in Reading at End
of Fifth Grade
Group Level 6 Level 7 Level 8 Level 9
Whites-3rd Gen. 91 79 52 10
All Hisp. 86 69 41 5
Mexican 86 67 40 5
Cuban 92 80 48 5
Puerto R. 92 78 48 6
C. Amer. 90 76 43 3
S. Amer. 91 79 51 11
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Math Proficiency Levels

• Level 1 Number and shape
• Level 2 Relative size
• Level 3 Ordinality and sequence
• Level 4 Addition and subtraction
• Level 5 Multiplication and division
• Level 6 Place value
• Level 7 Rate and measurement
• Level 8 Fractions
• Level 9 Area and volume

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Scoring at Levels 1, 2, 3, 4 in Math at Start
of Kindergarten
Group Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
Whites-3rd Gen. 95 63 26 5
All Hisp. 84 38 10 1
Mexican 81 34 8 1
Cuban 91 48 13 2
Puerto R. 89 49 17 3
C. Amer. 77 30 7 1
S. Amer. 89 46 16 2
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Scoring at Levels 6, 7, 8 9 in Math at End of
Fifth Grade
Group Level 6 Level 7 Level 8 Level 9
Whites-3rd Gen. 82 53 18 3
All Hisp. 68 34 8 1
Mexican 65 30 6 1
Cuban 76 52 15 2
Puerto R. 75 42 13 1
C. Amer. 70 37 11 2
S. Amer. 79 50 20 2
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Students Excluded from the Sample

• The 30 of students who had limited English
  skills at the start of Kindergarten and were not
  therefore assessed continue to lag behind
  academically.
• By the end of fifth grade, these students are
  over a full standard deviation below Whites in
  reading and almost a standard deviation behind in
  math.

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Achievement Gaps and SES

• Gaps are heavily related to the much lower SES
  circumstances of Hispanics than Whites (lower
  parent education and poverty rates)
• However, the Task Force commissioned study looked
  at achievement across SES.

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Implications

• We can expect meaningful within class gaps at all
  SES levels through secondary school.
• A 2002 NCES study concluded that 20 of high SES
  White sophomores were reading at the highest
  level while only 10 of high SES Hispanics were
  doing so.
• Further, at the lowest quartile, 27 of Hispanics
  were unable to reach Level 1suggesting that a
  quarter of low SES Hispanic sophomores were
  reading far below the level required to do high
  school academic work (compared to 12 of Whites).
  

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The Good News

• Evidence of Hispanic Progress
• Achievement gaps between Whites and Hispanics of
  Cuban and South American origins are much smaller
  than for other Hispanics from other national
  origins.
• Additionally, there is significant
  intergenerational advancement among the largest
  national origin group, Mexican Americans.

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Scoring at Levels 1, 2, 3 4 in Reading at
Start of Kindergarten by Mexican Generation
Group Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
Whites-3rd Gen. 73 34 20 4
Mexican-1st Gen. 42 14 6 0
Mexican-2nd Gen. 43 14 8 2
Mexican-3rd Gen. 60 23 12 2
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Scoring at Levels 6, 7, 8 9 in Reading at End
of Fifth Grade by Mexican Generation
Group Level 6 Level 7 Level 8 Level 9
Whites-3rd Gen. 91 79 52 10
Mexican-1st Gen. 83 61 32 1
Mexican-2nd Gen. 83 61 38 6
Mexican-3rd Gen. 89 72 43 5
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What Can We Do?

• School readiness and achievement have their
  foundations in the period from birth to three
• Literacy related parenting practices
• oral language and vocabulary development
• number of different words used, how words are
  used, range of topics discussed, modeling of
  language, asking questions, story-telling,
  singing
• Reading contributes to language and cognitive
  development

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What Can We Do?

• Increase Time in School
• Infant/toddler Programs
• Pre-K
• Summer and After School Programs
• Language
• Bi-literate Teachers
• Language Development Experts

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Conclusion

• Major reasons why Hispanic children have
  relatively low levels of school readiness and
  achievement
• High percentage of these youngsters are from low
  SES families
• parents have little formal education
• low incomes
• Many low SES Hispanic children are from families
  in which a limited amount of language is used in
  the home. For many, Spanish is the primary
  language spoken in the home, and several know
  little English when they start kindergarten.
• The need to raise school readiness and
  achievement levels among Hispanics cuts across
  social class lines.
• Expanding and improving the quality of early
  childhood education for the rapidly growing
  Hispanic population in the United States is
  imperative. The Task Forces Report will discuss
  these findings among others and importantly will
  make recommendations for action.

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• For more information, visit us at
• www.ecehispanic.org
• Amara Scott Andrews
• [phone]
• Amara.andrews_at_asu.edu