Achievement Gaps in Early Education

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Achievement Gaps in Early Education Eugene E
Garcia, Ph.D.
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Sabías Que(Did you know)

• Nickelodeons bilingual Dora the Explorer is the
  No. 2 pre-school show on commercial TV.

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Sabías Que

• According to Hallmark Cards, piñatas are now the
  2nd most popular party favorballoons 1.

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Hispanics

• From the General to the Specifics

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A Growing Population

• Between the 1960s and 2005, the Latino
  population in the United States grew 400
• Hispanic children under age 5 amounted to 4.2
  million or 21 percent of the total US population
  under 5 years old. (18, ages 4-19)

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• Specific (country of origin, generation status,
  English language proficiency, etc.) demographic
  trends of the Hispanic child population.

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Demographics Our Youngest

• New Born
• 24 of US babies born in 2005 were Hispanic
• This totals 1,112,329 up from 593,073 in 1990
• a 57 increase
• Hispanic new borns are highly concentrated yet
  dispersed
• 50 born in two states (CA and TX)
• 75 born in eight states
• Yet, in 25 states, 10 born to Hispanic mothers
• 46 born to single mothers (18.4 in 1980)
• 47 born to mothers with less than a high school
  education (54 in 1980)
• 63 born to mothers born outside the US (32 in
  1980)
• 73 Mexican origin (66 in 1980)

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Demographics Distribution

• AGES 0-8 YEARS OLD
• 1 out of 5 children in the US is Hispanic
• Hispanics are diverse in their national origin
• 68 Mexican origin
• 8.5 Puerto Rican origin
• 7.0 Central American origin
• 5.7 South American origin
• 2.7 Dominican origin
• 2.5 Cuban origin
• 5.6 Other

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Demographics Distribution

• AGES 0-8 YEARS OLD
• Dispersed and Highly Concentrated
• 79 of Hispanic children live in nine states
• 25 other states contain 10 or more
• 62.3 live in immigrant Hispanic families 90
  are US born
• 10 living in immigrant households are themselves
  foreign born i.e., 1st generation

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Demographics Language

• Home language at 9-months
• 34 primarily Spanish with English
• 22 primarily English with Spanish
• 19 Spanish only
• 21 English only 4 other
• 75 are influenced by Spanish

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• Specific academic achievement trajectories of
  Hispanic children from kindergarten through third
  grade by SES, English language proficiency,
  national origin, and generational status.

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Selected ECLS-K Math and Reading Data for
Kindergarten and the Third Grade
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Math Proficiency Levels

• Level 1 Number and shape
• Level 2 Relative size
• Level 3 Ordinality and sequence
• Level 4 Addition and subtraction
• Level 5 Multipication and division
• Level 6 Place value
• Level 7 Rate and measurement

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Scoring at Levels 1, 2, 3, 4 in Math at Start
of Kindergarten
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Scoring at Levels 1, 2, 3, 4 in Math at Start
Kindergarten by Mexican Generation
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Scoring at Levels 4, 5, 6, 7 in Math at End
of Third Grade
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Scoring at Levels 4, 5, 6, 7 in Math at End
of Third Grade by Mexican Generation
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Reading Proficiency Levels

• Level 1 Letter recognition
• Level 2 Beginning sounds
• Level 3 Ending sounds
• Level 4 Sight words
• Level 5 Comprehension of words in context
• Level 6 Literal inference
• Level 7 Extrapolation
• Level 8 Evaluation

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Scoring at Levels 1, 2, 3, 4 in Reading at
Start of Kindergarten
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Scoring at Levels 1, 2, 3 4 in Reading at
Start of Third Grade by Mexican Generation
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Scoring at Levels 5, 6, 7 8 in Reading at End
of Third Grade
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Scoring at Levels 5, 6, 7 8 in Reading at End
of Third Grade by Mexican Generation
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Longitudinal ECLS-K Data by SES and Race/Ethnic
Group
ECLS-K
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Hispanic K-3 Achievement Trajectories

• SUMMARY
• Throughout K-3 there are sustained achievement
  differences between Hispanic subgroups by country
  of origin.
• Children of Cuban origin, followed by those from
  South American origin, fare the best in reading
  and mathematics (K-3) and score as well as Whites
  in third grade reading and slightly higher than
  Whites in third grade mathematics.

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Hispanic K-3 Achievement Trajectories

• SUMMARY
• Children from Mexican and Central American score
  lowest in reading and in mathematics at the start
  of kindergarten
• At 3rd grade children of Mexican origin score the
  lowest in math and readinggenerational status
  important.

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Effects of Tulsa Pre-K Program by Race/Ethnicity
of Student
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Age-Equivalent Test Scores for Children Exposed
to Tulsa Pre-K
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RECENT PUBLICATIONS Garcia, E. and Gonzalez,
D. M. (2006) Pre-k and Latinos. Pre-K Now
Research Series. Washington , DC
www.preknow.org. Garcia, E. and Jensen, B.
(2007) Helping Young Hispanic Learners.
Educational Leadership, 64, 6, pp.
34-39.





National Task Force on Early Childhood Education
for Hispanics

La Comisión Nacional para la Educación de la
Niñez Hispana
www.ecehispanic.org
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Specific Task Force Analyses Initial Findings
PREGUNTAS?
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Eugene E. Garcia, Ph.D.
Office of the Vice President, Ed.
Partnerships Arizona State University P.O. Box
870211 Tempe, AZ 85287-0211
E-Mail Eugene.Garcia_at_asu.edu URL
http//www.ecehispanic.org