I start with some good news. World literacy rates have improved significantly. For instance, in 1820, only one in ten persons worldwide could read and write.
Thankfully, the situation has reversed today, and nearly ninety percent are literate. Thus, most of the world’s population aged 15 and older is literate. Many countries boast that over 95 percent of their population has basic literacy skills.
Realities for recent immigrants
To begin with, we must remember that Hispanics in America are found at all levels. Many come from families that predate the Anglo onslaught. They have been here for generations. Most have succeeded. They are financially secure, college-educated, and leaders of many professions. At the other extreme, recent immigrants struggle to survive in a foreign country with a new language and difficult cultural realities. Employed in low-income jobs, their lives are wrenching. They aren’t even on the first rung of the ladder towards the American Dream.
I have seen thousands of Hispanic students succeed - and fail. Who succeeds and why? The seeds of success are planted long before kindergarten.
Many start their schooling “without the economic and social resources” that many others enjoy and take for granted. It’s a brutal reality.
The struggle
Despite high educational hopes, Hispanics were for decades among the least educated cohort in America. That has changed of late - more Hispanics are in college than ever before. Yet barriers to education include, as noted, entering school at a disadvantage. They face an alien formalized school system, where teachers frequently make improper judgments based on a student’s English proficiency.
Hispanic students and their predominantly non-Hispanic teachers lead to disengagement from academic work. Further, the lack of academic guidance in course selections has impeded Hispanics from attending four-year colleges. Luckily, many community colleges have adopted Hispanic-friendly programs. However, success has been limited, and dropout rates are high.
The brutal facts
Department of Education research has consistently noted that one of the most important factors in a child’s education success is the extent to which parents actively participate in their child’s preschool education. Scholars note that such early intervention must begin at home long before kindergarten.
Simple activities, such as reading to children, have been shown “to enhance a child’s language acquisition, early reading performance, social development, and later success in school.” Other studies show many Hispanic children between the ages of 3 to 5 are less likely to be read to compared with non-Hispanics. Children whose parents’ primary language at home is Spanish have especially low participation rates in literacy acquisition activities. Reading to children at least three times per week is recommended.
Hispanic households are less likely than Caucasian households to participate in prekindergarten literacy activities, such as telling their child a story or visiting a library. When both parents speak only Spanish at home their children’s participation rates are nearly 50 percentage points lower than those of Caucasian families. By contrast, in Hispanic families where both parents speak English at home, participation rates were only 15 percentage points lower than those of Caucasian families.
Income realities
We cannot overestimate how family income influences a child’s education. Families with limited income are less likely to participate in literacy activities than those with greater resources. A recent NHES study categorized families by income level to determine literacy activities by race/ethnicity when resources are taken into account. To the point, “a statistically significant association between literacy activities and family resources across racial/ethnic groups still exists.”
However, at all income levels except the highest, Hispanic families are less likely than other groups to participate in literacy activities that lay the foundation for success.
Lower participation in literacy activities is paired with low income. Within each income bracket except the highest, Hispanic families in which neither parent speaks English were less likely to read to their children, tell a story, or visit a library than Hispanic families in which both parents speak English at home.
The rates of literacy participation for Hispanic families who speak English at home more closely resemble those of white and black families, suggesting that bilingual families may be more assimilated into American culture and specifically into practices that increase school performance.
Average participation rates for 3- to 5-year-olds being read to by a family member by race/ethnicity are highly influenced by family income.
Analyses based on NHES data show that, regardless of the mother’s educational attainment and household income, Hispanic parents who speak only Spanish at home are less likely to read to their children than other Hispanic parents (both bilingual parents and those who speak only English).
Bottom line
Two problems: Low income and English proficiency.
Families trapped in low-income realities are besieged on many fronts, including their children’s education. Locked in low-paying jobs, both parents usually seek employment and frequently have more than one job. Clearly, resolving their economic situation is at the forefront of their minds.
More programs must be made available to help recent immigrants acquire skills to improve their financial reality.
From the very beginning, non-English immigrants have struggled to learn English. Bilingual parents are more likely to provide their children with literacy activities than parents who speak only their native tongue. While participating in literacy activities in English is the optimal preparation for schooling, being read to in their native language also exposes children to literacy experiences that will be beneficial when they start school. Students who are successful readers in their native language help them read English. Spanish should not be ignored. Parents, mothers in particular, should read stories to their preschool children, preferably in English, but in the native tongue helps as well.
Another reality to remember is that parents who speak only Spanish at home are more likely to be recent immigrants, live in disadvantaged communities, be unfamiliar with American cultural and educational practices, and have lower levels of education and income. This mixture of language, nativity, and environment creates serious obstacles for their young children. Children should learn English before entering kindergarten.
It’s a tough assignment, but I hope that being aware of the benefits will stimulate creativity and, ultimately, solutions.
