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Keeping their language and culture increases academic achievement of Latino students

A recent report by the University of Missouri confirms something many of us already knew: “Mexican-American students who identify and practice speaking their native language have higher grades than those who are put in English-only environments in their schools.”

David Aguayo, a doctoral student in the College of Education, produced the report. According to Aguayo, “Mexican-American students who embraced their cultural heritage and spoke in their native languages had higher grade point averages than those that only spoke English while in school and at home.” This conclusion, he said, can be applied to all Latino students.

Aguayo said his report is important for several reasons, including the well-known fact that Latinos represent the fastest growing group among school students, and the other well-known fact that there is an “achievement gap” between Latino and non-Latino students, that is, Latinos “still have the lowest high school and college graduation rates.”

According to Aguayo, one of the reasons why that achievement gap still exists is precisely because schools insist on forcing Latino students to learn in an environment outside their native language or the language spoken at home and their culture, creating an English-only environment for those students.

Obviously, Aguayo is not against learning English, but he is against schools denying the cultural and linguistic identity of Latino students. When that happens, Hispanic students have difficulties achieving academic success.

According to the information provided by the University of Missouri, Aguayo compared survey results of 408 Mexican-American students and found that students who embraced their cultural heritage and spoke in their native languages had higher grade point averages than those that only spoke English while in school and at home.

“It’s a simple correlation, but living and learning within your cultural heritage is a benefit,” Aguayo said. “It could be speaking the language in school, eating certain foods, or interacting with other people who share your heritage. The stress level of being in a new culture will decrease if these students have a support system in school, while they are adjusting to other cultures.”

I am not surprised by Aguayo’s study or by its conclusions. I am surprised that there is still a need for such study. For example, in 2010, there were 73.000 students at Denver Public Schools. Of them, 43,000 were Hispanics. Among them, 20,000 were Spanish-speakers.

With this statistics at hand –and the situation is similar in many other school districts–, how is it possible to deny the cultural impact Latino students are having on schools? How is it possible to deny the need to respect the Hispanic culture?

In addition, Latinos represent 20 percent of the population in Colorado. However, the important thing is that almost half of those Latinos (49 percent) are 18 years of age or younger. That is, they are of school age, attending schools where “education” erodes their culture and their future.

Perhaps each Latino parent with students still in school should get a copy of Aguayo’s report and send it to their children’s teachers.

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