Educational System Fails Chicano Students at Every Level, Says Report
LOS ANGELES
Educators, policy makers, community leaders and other stakeholders must do more to combat the dismal high school and college graduation rates of Chicano students, says a new report issued by the University of California, Los Angeles’ Chicano Studies Research Center.
Out of 100 Chicano students who start elementary school, only 46 graduate from high school, eight receive a bachelor’s degree and only two earn a graduate or professional degree, according to statistics based on 2000 U.S. Census Bureau and other educational data sources. Less than one Chicano of the 100 earns a doctorate.
In contrast, of every 100 White elementary school students, 84 graduate from high school, 26 attain a bachelor’s degree and 10 earn a professional degree, researchers say. Chicanos, the fastest growing segment of the student population in California and all major cities west of the Mississippi, have the lowest educational attainment of major racial and ethnic group in the country.
“Education is a crucial determinant for success in our society,” says study co-author Dr. Daniel Solórzano, a UCLA professor of education and the center’s associate director. “What we see happening for Chicanos and Chicanas, however, is that they drop, or are pushed, out of the educational pipeline in higher numbers than any other group. While it is easy to blame the students, the responsibilities reside in the educational system itself.”
Solórzano and Dr. Tara J. Yosso, an assistant professor of Chicano Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a visiting scholar at the UCLA center, identified several conditions that impede the flow of Chicanos through the educational pipeline.
