High School Graduation Rates in California and the United States Based on Race and Ethnicity

America’s education systems suffers from a multitude of problems but the main issues, are the imbalance found between urban and suburban school districts. Most people do not even realize that our public-schools is slowly easing its way back to fully segregated schools. Urban schools are now full of majority Black and Hispanic students, while Suburban schools are full of White students.The two types of school districts have two totally different educational outcomes. Public education in urban areas is said to be significantly worse than suburban areas. Only about 19% of students from urban school districts seek higher education compared to 70% of their suburban counterparts (Pew Research Center, 2011). Suburban and urban sectors of the education

The United States Hispanic population continues to increase each year. In turn, school populations of Hispanics increase as well. Hispanics, although improving academically, continue to have high school dropout rates, higher than other racial and ethnic groups and continue to lag behind school peers. The discrepancy between Hispanic students and other students’ achievement is the result of many factors, including acculturalization, language acquisition, poverty, and school factors. Schools

Racial disparities exist in every aspect of our society. It exists in religion, socioeconomic status, life-chances, media, etc. It affects everyone even if they realize or not. Education is one of the things that are also affected by the racial stratification occurring in the United States. In this paper I will look in to whether Tennessee is better or worse for educational advancement by comparing four races and their high school graduation rates on the national and state levels. The four races used will be; Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latino, and White. I will then tie specific theories to why these disparities may exist. This will hopefully give insight in to this touchy topic and provide a starting point for correcting the gap.

The “achievement gap” in education refers to the disparity in academic performance between groups of students. The achievement gap is shown in grades, standardized-test scores, course selection, dropout rates, among other success measures. It’s most often used to describe the troubling performance gaps between African-American and latino students, towards the lower end of the performance scale, compared to their white peers, and the similar academic differences between students from low-income families and those who are privileged. In the past decade, scholars and policy makers began focusing their attention on other achievement gaps, such as those based on sex, English language and learning disabilities.

Ultimately the lack of reliable resources and preparation from underfunded schools leads African American students into being unprepared for college and jobs, once again reinforcing a vicious cycle of poverty within the community. Gillian B. White, a senior associate editor at The Atlantic, wrote a chilling article regarding the systematic racism that is deeply embedded in the American school system. In the article The Data: Race Influences School Funding, White states “At a given poverty level, districts that have a higher proportion of white students get substantially higher funding than districts that have more minority students” (White). In this quote White explains the clear correlation of race and inadequate funding in the American school

“When we can predict how well students will do in school by looking at their zip code, we know we have a serious systemic problem” (Gloria Ladson-Billings 20). When we are able to forecast how a child will perform by where the child resides, then how can we say that every child is receiving quality education. The unsuccessful educational system infused into the United States is affecting the majority of minorities. In the United States students due to their race and social class, suffer from underfunded public schools, inexperienced teachers, and housing segregation, which in turn inhibit their opportunity to succeed through education. These difficulties plaque students from the very beginning of their public school experience and follow them throughout their academic life. There are a few solutions to these issues but they have to be implemented and enforced with a slow integration.

I agree with you completely the Hispanic population is still driven down today, through the economy and educational standards in the US. This population has faced oppression, segregation, and discrimination from the Anglo Americans and these practices are still continuing as evidenced by the upcoming electoral candidates. Educational outcomes for Latinos have not been great, “The Hispanic dropout rate fell from 21.8 percent in 1990 to 21.1 percent in 2000, (three times greater than the 2000 non-Hispanic white dropout rate) (Fry, 2003)”. There have been research studies conducted trying to pin point why this is, as essentially the US Department of Education is stating that it is not the school system in the US that is the problem. From my own

A conversation ingrained in my memory involved two adolescent boys from San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD). When asked about their future ambitions, one student casually responded that he would “go to prison like his father.” The other expressed a desire to rise above his inner city milieu, but had little sense his abilities or of his options. In stark contrast, students from Alamo Heights, an affluent neighboring district, held ambitions to become doctors, lawyers, and politicians, and demonstrated an understanding of the prerequisites for their desired career path. The graduation rate of Alamo Heights stood at 98% while SAISD’s graduation rate lingered around 60%. The contrast between these two districts grows more disturbing when considered through the lens of racial equality. While SAISD’s population is 98% minority, the Anglo population in Alamo Heights totals slightly over 55%. Yet, 74% of Alamo Heights graduates achieve a four-year college diploma, while only 4% percent of SAISD alumni attain a bachelor’s degree. An opportunity gap results from this discrepancy, ultimately proving detrimental to social mobility.

Daniel Santos, a retired military officer, “The US government provides many opportunities for citizens to further themselves” says Daniel Santos, a retired military officer. US benefit programs have allowed Daniel and his family to have a stable home with health care, as well as numerous educational opportunities. He has passed on his strong educational values, knowing that higher education is essential for success. “Between 1971 and 1992, the number of Hispanic college students rose from 47% to 70%, and just last year there was a 24% increase in the number of Hispanics enrolled in college” reveals the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Before the 1970’s a majority of Hispanics and other minorities were uneducated. Progress to improve this has been made with scholarships and programs sponsored by colleges and the US government. Within the 20th century, the percentage of educated Hispanics has increased and surpassed the perception of minorities. Conclusively the 20th century education progress has transformed modern-day

The state of California currently has a consistent population growth, where birth rates are 49% of the population, immigration 51% and older Californians are about 20% of the total population. Since California borders the country of Mexico, the number of young hispanics in California is steadily increasing. The population is mostly young and effects the state in California in its work force and education. The large Hispanic community faces trouble as many do not have the qualifications for high paying jobs, and there is a low amount of low skilled jobs available in the state in fact, “ Californians of modest or low incomes are challenged by the high cost of housing, inadequate heath care for the one-fifth of Californians who are uninsured, and the increasing costs of public high education opportunities”. The state of education faces a problem with the high number of hispanics and other minorities in California because, “one-forth of the Children in Californians public school are considered “English Learners”, with some large school districts serving as many as 80 language groups”. Since the great recession in 2008 it has become difficult for people to be able to own a house, this has placed a huge effect on minorities such as hispanics. School quality

The public school system in America is flawed and only seems to favor those of a higher socio-economic class. American students in poor and high minority schools receive fewer resources, fewer AP classes, and less qualified teachers unlike their white and higher-class counterparts. Which in return has lead to lower high school graduation rates, low-test scores, and less students going to college. Some public policy has been made to fight the inequality for black and Latino students in public schools by starting desegregation plans but little has it helped. High stake state exams have held students back from moving on or receiving their diploma. According to the article in paragraph 2 its estimated 58 percent or more of ninth grade minority students will not graduate high school in

The Condition of Children Orange County report states that in the 2011-2012 academic year, 7.4% of Asian students dropped out of high school, which is higher than their white peers (4.6%). Because of this, many schools do not accurately monitor, record, and report the dropout rates among Asian Americans. As a result, many school districts throughout the nation do not realize the significant number of Asian students they are losing because of a stereotype (Walker-Moffat, 1995). In addition to underachievement and growing dropout rates among Asian Americans, the increasing socioeconomic gap between Asians and whites also made the model minority stereotype problematic. According to U.S. Census Bureau, the poverty rates among Asian American groups (12.6%) remain elevated compared to that of their white counterparts and the overall national average (12.4%).

The results of this study indicate that White and Asian students are overrepresented among students enrolled in GT and IB while black, Hispanic, and LEP students are underrepresented. Furthermore, these differences are more pronounced in charter schools than in traditional public schools. Students of different racial backgrounds in charter schools or traditional public schools have a fairly similar probability of attending a school that has a GT, AP, or IB program. However, when looking at the within-school data, black and Hispanic students tend to be under-enrolled in these programs while white and Asian students tend to be overenrolled. Similar trends exist for students classified under LEP and IDEA, as they consistently show lower

Every year, across the country, a dangerously high percentage of students—disproportionately poor and minority—disappear from the educational pipeline before graduating from high school. Nationally, only about 68 percent of all students who enter 9th grade will graduate “on time” with regular diplomas in 12th grade. While the graduation rate for white students is 75 percent, only approximately half of Black, Hispanic , and Native American students earn regular diplomas alongside their classmates. Graduation rates are even lower for minority males. Yet, because of misleading

For purposes of this report, the data I collected is from the 2012-13 school year. On January 20, 2015, I collected demographic and student achievement data from 13 resident schools that a majority of the WAYS student body would be eligible to attend. I collected data from