Table Of ContentAn Asset-Based Approach to Latino
Education in the United States
Challenging perspectives that often characterize Latinos as “at risk,” this book
takes an “asset” approach, highlighting the favorable linguistic, cognitive,
education, and cultural assets Latino children bring to educational settings. An
Asset-Based Approach to Latino Education in the United States addresses the
increasingly important challenge and opportunity of educating the linguistic
and cultural diversity of the growing population of Latino students. The book
confronts the educational debate regarding effective instructional practices for
Latinos, bilingual education, immigration and assimilation.
Eugene E. García, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Education, Arizona State
University, USA.
Mehmet “Dali” Ӧztürk, Ph.D., is an education research professional living in
California,USA.
Routledge Research in Educational Equality and Diversity
Books in the series include:
Faces of Discrimination in Higher Education in India
Quota Policy, Social Justice and the Dalits
Samson K. Ovichegan
Inequality, Power and School Success
Case Studies on Racial Disparity and Opportunity in Education
Gilberto Q. Conchas and Michael A. Gottfried
with Briana M. Hinga
Youth & Inequality in Education
Global Actions in Youth Work
Dana Fusco and Michael Heathfield
Social Justice and Transformative Learning
Culture and Identity in the United States and South Africa
Edited by Saundra M. Tomlinson-Clarke and Darren L. Clarke
Race and Colorism in Education
Edited by Carla R. Monroe
Facilitating Educational Success for Migrant Farmworker
Students in the U.S.
Edited by Patricia A. Pérez and Maria Estela Zarate
The Media War on Black Male Youth in Urban Education
Darius Prier
Educational Policy Goes to School
Case Studies on the Limitations and Possibilities of Educational Innovation
Edited by Gilberto Conchas and Michael Gottfried
An Asset-Based Approach to Latino Education in the United States
Understanding Gaps and Advances
Eugene E. García and Mehmet “Dali” Öztürk
An Asset-Based Approach
to Latino Education in the
United States
Understanding Gaps and Advances
Eugene E. García and
Mehmet “Dali” Öztürk
First published 2018
by Routledge
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Contents
Acknowledgments vi
1 Introduction 1
2 The Education Circumstances of Latinos in the United States 15
3 Latinos and the Early Years: Early Development and
Learning Critical for Positive Outcomes 35
4 Teaching and Learning From a Cultural and Linguistic
Asset Base 50
5 Federal and State Policy: The Dos and Don’ts 68
6 The Latino Postsecondary Education Circumstances:
Gaps and Advances 83
7 Future Educational Circumstances of the Latino Students:
We Know So Much More 118
References 136
Index 154
Acknowledgments
A volume like this one would not exist without the opportunity we as authors
have had to investigate the circumstances of Latino children and their families,
teachers and schools by our respective institutions. To them we owe a great debt
of gratitude. To our readers, we remind them that this contribution does not take
the place of real experience, but our hope is that the findings presented through-
out this volume help to enhance that experience. We do owe a great deal to other
professionals that served as a basis for what is in this volume, and to the countless
teachers, administrators and research colleagues that assisted and supported our
research and practice. To our families, we are grateful for their unconditional love,
patience, support and understanding when we were not able to spend more time
with them because we were working on this book. And last but not least, to our
spouses Erminda García and Kathryn Öztürk, who remain steadfast, supporting
us through all of our ambitious research endeavors. Perhaps our purpose and mo-
tivation to work together is best expressed by Rumi (n.d., p. 111): “There is giv-
ing, and there is knowingness. Some have generosity and compassion but no true
knowledge. Some have knowledge but no self-sacrifice. When both are present,
that person is blessed and prosperous.” We feel privileged to have the opportunity
to drop this volume in the ocean of knowledge.
Introduction
Introduction
1 I ntroduction
It is the intent of this volume to integrate the most private as well as the most pub-
lic accounts which directly inform the effective educational treatment of Latino
children and student populations in this country. The thesis is straightforward:
The implications of “acting” on the conceptual and specific understandings of
individual and cultural integrity have led to and can lead to future responsive edu-
cational practices of significance to all students but of particular importance to La-
tinos. At a minimum, the book gives voice to an important perspective that must
be considered in our private and public discourse related to linguistic and cultural
diversity with a special focus on the Latino population of the United States.
The volume addresses increasingly important challenges and opportunities
confronted by U.S. schools: Educating to high standards the linguistic and cul-
tural diversity of today’s and tomorrow’s school-age population, particularly the
growing population of Latino students. Unfortunately, our schools have not had
success in meeting this challenge, with persistent achievement gaps documented
at every level of formal education, while at the same time the absolute and relative
number of Latino students has grown significantly. In California, for example,
more than 40% of the school-age population is Latino and more than 50% is
“minority” (Bataalova & Zong, 2016). However, research, practice and policy
have not been dormant in addressing the persistent educational gaps. Signifi-
cant advances have been demonstrated in eliminating and reducing these gaps at
every level of the education spectrum: preschool, early elementary grades, middle
school, high school and postsecondary. The volume proposes to illuminate these
gaps and advances in ways that allow a better understanding of the educational
challenges and opportunities.
At the core of this volume is the notion that this country’s diversity is a re-
source, not a problem but a strength, not a weakness but an asset and not a liability
or threat to our “Americanness.” It argues that two presuppositions make up the
future of the successful education of Latinos and our country’s future as a diverse
nation:
To honor diversity is to honor the social complexity in which we live—to
give the individual a sense of integrity and where he/she has developed as an
individual the same integrity.
2 Introduction
To unify is absolutely necessary, but to insist upon it without embracing
diversity is to destroy that which will allow us to unite—individual and cul-
tural dignity.
The debate regarding the future of Latinos, particularly around issues of edu-
cation, has centered on the issues related to sustaining Latino “roots” and how
these strategies enhance and give “wings” to opportunities for educational, so-
cial and economic success (García & García, 2012). These debates have alerted
us to the presence of as much difference within as between diverse population
groups. Heterogeneity within groups is as important as heterogeneity between
groups. Moreover, documenting differences that do exist between groups without
understanding why such differences exist can lead to unwarranted stereotypes
and mitigate the opportunities to conceive and implement new ways in which
old ills can be effectively addressed. In summary, this new perspective concludes
that similarities and differences within and between diverse student populations
are important. It is the understanding of these processes that will lead us to more
productive educational environments in contexts in which diversity is the norm
not the exception.
Given the characteristics of the social context in which Latinos develop and
learn, they are characterized as more vulnerable by summing the number of “risk
factors” associated with these children and students. However, it is important to
critically examine these forms of analysis—including within-group variation as
a unit of analysis—and what they mean to the well-being of children and their
families. Contrary to the traditional perspective that often characterizes Latino
children from minority groups as “at risk,” such children can present a number of
favorable cultural and linguistic circumstances. Latino children from immigrant
families in low socioeconomic circumstances have lower infant mortality rates
and fewer physical and mental health problems compared with native-born chil-
dren. Studies have also found that Latino students live in families with a strong
work ethic and in homes where there is a third or more adults in addition to father
and mother than in nonimmigrant homes. Furthermore, although Latino/Latina
parents, on average, do not have high levels of formal education attainment, they
express interest in enrolling their children in early education programs and sup-
porting them through postsecondary schooling. In short, these children bring a
set of welcomed assets to the education settings. They are more likely to live
in two-parent families that have strong family support systems that include ex-
tended family members, demonstrate better early health practices and outcomes
than similar socioeconomic peers, hold very positive attitudes toward the role of
education in advancing their lives and, most significantly, are willing to work hard
in and out of educational environments to advance their learning opportunities.
This population is not “turned off” by formal learning opportunities and chal-
lenges that may be related in making those opportunities accessible to their young
children. This “asset” approach will be important in understanding the challenges
posed by the “at-risk” approach in this volume (Zentella, 2005; García & Marcos,
2015; García, 2017).
Introduction 3
It is also important to indicate what this volume will not do. It will not address
all the ways in which Latinos or any other ethnic groups are characterized by a
set of attributes. It will avoid the more typical discussion of how “Latinos” or
“African Americans” are similar to or different from “Anglo Americans,” “Asian
Americans” and so forth. Instead, it will concentrate on how primary social, cul-
tural and psychological processes produce differences of relevance to effective
education within and between these groups. Implicit in this understanding is that
effective educational environments are not the same for all students.
Very directly, we provide the latest information regarding the present circum-
stances of Latino children, students and their families drawing on present demo-
graphic indicators to more fully explore their circumstances in the United States.
This information sets the stage for understanding why a discussion of education,
Latinos and diversity is important at this time. Following examination of present
circumstances, we address the linguistic and cultural attributes of this population.
The concept of culture as either group focused or individual focused is explored.
This foundation is critical in understanding present American society and the
meaning of diversity. Not all Latinos are alike—then how are they similar, and
how are they different from themselves and others?
Our attention then shifts the emphasis from the general to the specific. It is the
qualitative and quantitative story of teachers, classrooms, schools and communi-
ties that have recognized the significance of who they are and are making educa-
tional success a reality for Latinos—honoring their roots and providing the wings.
This is the heart of the book. It details numerous individuals, classrooms, schools
and programs that support the main thesis of the book. In short, we begin to offer
the real-world evidence that Latino students can succeed and succeed at the high-
est level if given the right set of opportunities and support needed.
However, a “text” as described regarding the efforts of this volume without
“context” for that “text” is unwise. That is why we begin by forwarding a ratio-
nale and a set of guidelines for a new conceptual framework built upon the notion
that our future, particularly our successful educational future, depends on our new
understanding that in a diverse cultural context, respect for the uniqueness of the
individual is not enough. Instead, what must be added is respect for and integrity
of the cultural environment in which the individual develops and resides.
A New Conceptual Framework
Theory, empirical research, along with policy and practice related to develop-
ment and learning for Latinos in the United States, has focused cross-culturally
on children and students, ignoring for the most part the complexities of the cir-
cumstances in which they live. Moreover, too often, the focus is primarily, but
not exclusively, on the net and gross failings of this population, often identified
as risk factors—their poverty, immigration status, education achievement gaps
(Gandara & Contreras, 2009). In this opening chapter, we will put forward a more
comprehensive conceptual framework that will assist the field in addressing the
needs of Latino learners in various heterogeneous learning contexts and therefore
