Why is there a high dropout rate among Hispanic males?

By: Wanda I. Figueroa

Study Interest

• 1981 – My family moved to Texas

• My brother was re-classified as an 11th grader due to

lack of credits, not intelligence.

• No motivation

• Placed in ESL program

• No teacher-student relationship

• No parent involvement with the school

Introduction – U.S. Statistics

• As of July 1, 2008 the Hispanic population is 46.9 million,

making the Hispanic population the nation’s largest

ethnic group.

• Many Hispanic parents bring their children to this country

to increase opportunities and have chance to a

prosperous life.

• Even though Hispanic students enter high school at a

fast rate, many are not receiving their high school

diploma, especially males.

Statement of Problem

• Educators are faced with the challenge to teach all

students, U.S. born and immigrants. As the number of

Hispanics students in our schools increases, so does the

number of Hispanics who do not graduate from high

school.

W

•What can be done to decrease the number of high school dropouts among

Hispanic males?

Statement of Problem

2000 16-19 Yrs Dropouts (Fry 2003)

Caucasians 8%

African Americans 12%

Hispanics 21%

Purpose of Study

• The purpose of the study is to see if the Hispanic males

themselves and the various group of people involved

with the boys have the same or different perspective of

the reasons why the students dropped out of school.

Research Questions

• Why is there a high drop out rate among Hispanic males?

• Do the male Hispanics themselves and the various group

of people involved (the teachers, the administrators, the

mothers, and the boys themselves) have the same or

different perspective as to why the students dropped out

of school?

• What is the problem?

• What is the solution?

Review of Literature: School Reform

• No Child Left Behind Act (2002) – The children of

immigrants represent one in five of all U.S. citizens.

(Capps et al., 2005, p.1)

• From rage to hope: Strategies for Reclaiming Black and

Hispanic students (1992) – Standardized testing should

not be used as a way to place students in classes or

programs.

(Kuykendall, 1992, p.43)

Review of Literature: Achievement Gap

• Closing the achievement gap (2001) - By 1999, 1:50

Hispanics could read and understand the information from

specialized text as compared to 1:12 Caucasian students.

In math, 1:30 Hispanics can do multi-step problem solving

elementary algebra as compared to 1:10 Caucasian

students.

• The results of a study by staff members at the Education

Trust conclude that many of them had the same thought

about Hispanic students. When the students were asked

the students asked about how un-prepared the teachers

are as well as not knowing the content taught.

(Haycock, 2001)

Review of Literature: Achievement Gap

• From rage to hope: Strategies for Reclaiming Black and

Hispanic students (1992)

– Have diverse curriculum

– Foster a positive academic self-image

– Build teacher-student relationships

(Kuykendall, 1992)

Review of Literature: Parent Involvement

• Family Meltdown in the classroom (1996) –

– Children today receive less care from their parents because of

single-parent household.

– Once students reach the 8th grade only half of the parents had any

contact with the school during that current school year.

(Zinsmeister, 1996)

• No Child Left Behind Act (2002) –

– Hispanic parents who do not have Visas do not build a

relationship with the school due to fear of deportation or other type

of problems with immigration.

(Capps et al., 2005, p.9)

Review of Literature: Dropouts

Socioeconomic Status

Low 10%

Medium 5%

High 2%

Review of Literature: Dropouts

• Students who demonstrate poor academic achievement

by the age of 14, drop out before finishing 10th grade.

• Children who enjoy a good parent-child relationship

during their middle school years, is more likely to

graduate from high school.

(Englund et al., 2008, p.79)

Review of Literature: Dropouts

• The transition from middle school into high school is

critical.

• Lack of proper schooling in the native country

• Not holding Hispanic students to a high standard

(Nesman, 2007)

Research Design

Four focus groups will be interviewed • Hispanic males that are dropouts

• The mothers of the dropout students

• Teachers

• Administrators

Research Tool

The focus groups will be part of an

interview. The interview will consist

of open-ended questions.

Data Collecting Procedure

• The data will be collected through

focus groups.

• The interview will be conducted in

four open forums.

Emerging Themes

• The answers of all focus groups will be

categorized into common themes.

• Participant responses will be categorized as

follows:

– Student motivation – Individual level of

Bronfenbrenner

– Parent involvement – Microsystem

– Parent – child relationship - Microsystem

– Teacher – student relationship - Microsystem

– Administration – student relationship – Microsystem

– School – student relationship - Mesosystem

Research Design Procedure

• The research design for this study will be

a cross between typology analysis and

domain analysis.

– Typology analysis is a type of classification

system that is taken from patterns and

themes (Ratcliff, n.d.).

– Domain analysis will “describe the social

situation and the cultural patterns within it”

(Ratcliff, n.d.).

References

Capps, R., Fix, M., Murray, J., Ost, J., Passel, F. S., & Herwantoro, S.

(2005). The new demography of American’s schools: Immigration and

the No Child Left Behind Act. Retrieved from The Urban Institute:

www.urban.org

Englund, M. M., Egeland, B., & Collins, W. A. (2008). Exceptions to high

school dropout predictions in a low-income sample: Do adults make a

difference?. Journal of Social Issues, 64(1), 77-93. Retrieved from

http://www.ebscohost.com/

Fry, R. (2003). . Retrieved from Hispanic youth dropping out of U.S.

schools: Measuring the challenge:

www.coloradoea.org/media/phcdropoutreport.pdf

References

Haycock, K. (2001, March). Closing the achievement gap.

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP, 58(6), 6-11. Retrieved from

www.scholar.google.com

Kuykendall, C. (1992). From rage to hope: Strategies for reclaiming

Black and Hispanics students. Bloomington, IN: National Education

Service.

Nesman, T. M. (2007, October). A participatory study of school dropout

and behavioral health of Latino adolescents. The Journal of

Behavioral Health Services & Research, 34(4), 414-430. doi:

http://search.ebscohost.com

Zinsmeister, K. (1996). Family meltdown in the classroom. American

Enterprise, 7(5), 42-45. Retrieved from http://www.EBSCO.com