The report by the Latin organization UnidosUS entitled “Latino Student Success: Advancing U.S. Educational Progress for All”, released by the group at their annual conference in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday (11), points out that “caring about the future of education in the United States means investing in the progress and success of Latino students”.

For UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Latino advocacy organization, the main goal is to ensure that funding is targeted to support those students and schools with the highest needs: “As we look ahead, this report highlights how policymakers can prioritize the needs of the Latino student population, and in doing so, create a stronger, more equitable education system for all students”.

According to the organization, “many of the inequities in America’s schools that were present before the pandemic remain. For example, Latino students are less likely to attend a high-performing school than non-Latino white students, and Latinos remain disproportionately underrepresented among America’s teachers”.

Latino students are the largest ethnic group in the United States. In 2020, more than one in four U.S. public-school students were Latino. Yet, despite of the great representation and the diverse set of talents and experiences that they bring to the classroom, Latinos often face challenges in greater proportion than other communities, points out the report.

Amalia Chamorro, director of education policy at UnidosUS, told Latino Rebels that “most of the issues, such as the inequitable access to the internet, existed before the pandemic but became more noticeable once everything went virtual”.

The report also shows that graduation and university enrollment rates among Latino students have declined. Furthermore, according to Amalia Chamorro said to Latino Rebels, “We have 28 percent of the student population in K-12 who are Latino, but yet we only have nine percent of the teacher population who identify as Latinos. “Research shows students do better when they see themselves reflected in their teachers and mentors”.

To improve on these issues, UnidosUS proposes a set of seven steps that should guide the new education policies at all levels of government:

1. Focus on contestable student learning data to identify and support underperforming schools.

2. Provide equitable funding to support low-income students.

3. Apply a new approach to multilingual learners based on their experiences.

4. Ensure access to inclusive, responsive and welcoming schools.

5. Support “anywhere, anytime” learning by strengthening digital literacy.

6. Ensure authentic engagement with students and their families.

7. Keep students on track for higher education.

According to the data presented, Latino students are more likely to be enrolled in schools with poorer education and who have remained in remote learning for longer. These institutions also experienced the largest declines in achievement growth, with researchers estimating a loss of around half a year of progress in math and reading during the 2020-21 school year.

The organization told Latino Rebels that “the Latino student population is going to represent about a third of students in just a few years. So if you’re investing in Latino students, you are really investing in the education system and in the general school population”.