Understanding Educational Success Among Latino/a English Language Learners: Factors Associated with High School Completion and Postsecondary School Attendance

Abstract

As of 2014, 24 states require students to pass exit exams to graduate from high school. In California, all high school students are required to pass the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) to earn a diploma. Failure to pass the CAHSEE is linked with school dropout, which is associated with many deleterious outcomes and disproportionately affects Latino/a youths. Among first generation Latino students, English language learners (ELL) may be especially at risk. The current study explored potential protective influences (e.g., academic expectations, school connectedness) on educational outcomes among 115 Latino/a ELL students at high academic risk. Logistic regressions and discriminant analyses were conducted, and results revealed that only socioeconomic status was significantly associated with school completion and that self-expectation was the only variable significantly associated with postsecondary school attendance. Implications of these results and future directions are discussed.