Shaping New Possibilities for Latino Children and the Nation's Future

Abstract

One of the most profound demographic shifts in the United States during the past two decades has been the dramatic increase in the Hispanic population, (1) driven both by high birth rates relative to other racial and ethnic groups, and by immigration. (See the article by Hernandez in this journal issue.) The Hispanic population grew by 58% from 1990 to 2000, and in 2003 became the largest minority community in the country with a total of 38.8 million people. Today, about one in eight Americans is of Hispanic origin. Although 70% of Latinos live in five states (California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois), over the past decade the population has grown significantly in other parts of the country, including both the South and the nation's heartland. Two characteristics of the Latino population are especially noteworthy. First, Latinos are a young population. More than one-third are under 18 years of age and almost half are under age 25. (2) Both the size of the Latino population and its youthfulness mean that the well-being of the Hispanic community--and especially of Latino children--matters to the future economic and social status of the United States as a whole. Second, although more than half of Latinos--and 85% of Hispanic children--were born in the United States, (3) recent data from the Urban Institute show that one in ten Latino children lives in a mixed-status household in which both immigrant and native-born Latinos reside. (4) Thus, policies and programs that focus on immigrants are likely to have consequences for Hispanic children, whether or not they themselves are immigrants. Many Latinos--as is true of almost all Americans--have immigrant origins. Yet, as was the case with previous waves of immigrants to this country, the children of Latino immigrants were born in the United States, and their outcomes will profoundly affect America's future. To this end, the following discussion highlights three areas that are key to promoting the future productivity and well-being of this growing segment of America's children: education, health, and economic status. Education Latinos now represent the second-largest segment of the school-aged population in the United States (after non-Hispanic whites). Latino parents recognize that education is critical to their children's opportunities in life, (5) yet the portrait of Hispanic education today is decidedly mixed. Compared with other racial/ethnic groups, Latino children are less likely to be enrolled in preschool or to complete high school. Also, many Latino children are not proficient with the English language. Despite the nation's recent emphasis on the importance of early childhood education to later academic success, three- and four-year-old Latino children are the least likely of all children to be enrolled in such programs (36%, compared to 64% of black, and 46% of white children in 2000). (6) Similarly, Latino children are the least likely to participate in Head Start. (7) At the other end of the educational pipeline, data show that only about 60% of Latino students are completing high school, compared with almost 90% of both white and black students. (8) Another educational issue of concern is the fact that the nation's schools now serve more than five million students who are English language learners (referred to as limited English proficient, or LEP, in federal law and regulations), (9) and nearly 80% of these English language learners speak Spanish as their first language. (10) Yet there is a dearth of information on the most effective practices to serve these students. In particular, very few large-scale assessments are being developed that are appropriate for English language learners, which is worrisome since the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires schools to improve instruction and outcomes for these children as measured primarily through test scores. (11) More appropriate assessments are especially needed in states where an increasing number of English language learners is a new phenomenon. …