ISSUE

Latinas are dropping out of school in alarming numbers. Forty-one percent of Latina students do not graduate with their class in four years—if they graduate at all. Many Latina students face challenges related to poverty, immigration status, limited English proficiency, and damaging gender and ethnic stereotypes. And the high teen pregnancy rate for Latinas — the highest of any ethnic group — reflects and reinforces the barriers they face. National Women's Law Center

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

best practices for teachers of latina students

These recommendations are found in the National Women's Law Center/Mexican American Legal Defense and Education fund Report:


These recommendations can also help other poverty-level girls of color.
These include:
  • Raise college awareness: Talk to students early and often about college choices, and long-and short term aspirations. Expose students to opportunities in post-secondary schooling, field trips, career options, provide role models.
  • Make school environments culturally inclusive: Take care to incorporate Latino culture into programming, activities and curricula. Enforce anti-discrimination policies.
  • Help Latino parents get more involved with children’s education: Make efforts to communicate in Spanish. Work around poverty-level work-schedules. Make college information available. Follow up with parents by phone, if necessary.
  • Take steps to help prevent teenage pregnancy: Within state guidelines, make medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education available in a culturally sensitive manner.
  • Help pregnant students stay in school: Enforce Title IX and eliminate discrimination against parenting or pregnant students. To the extent possible: Excuse pregnancy-related absences, allow home-bound instruction, offer parenting classes for mothers and fathers. Encourage pregnant students.

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