The Latino Education Gap: Not Quite Trilingual

Latinos are the largest ethnic minority group in the Southwest and the fastest growing in the United States. More than one-third of Latino students are English Language Learners and they consistently perform poorly on state tests and have lower graduation rates than Whites and Asians, according to Department of Education data. In this ongoing series, the Fronteras Desk explores the Latino achievement gap in education throughout the Southwest.We also look at how states and school districts are looking beyond federal guidelines and are creating innovative solutions to close the gap.

By Devin Browne, Fronteras

LOS ANGELES – Like so many students that I’d taught in Los Angeles, Andrea could speak three languages. “I speak Spanish, English, and Kanjobal,” she told me.

At the time she said this in early 2008, we both thought it was true. And in some ways, it was true. She spoke Spanish with her brother and sisters at home. She spoke Spanish and Kanjobal – which is a Mayan language – with her parents, both of whom are from Guatemala. And she spoke English with me, the fifth first-grade teacher she had that year.

Then one day, it became clear that this was only sort of true – that in fact, Andrea could only sort of speak Spanish and only sort of speak English and really knew just a couple of words in Kanjobal.

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