LATINO ADOLESCENTS

Experiences Of Discrimination Within Latino Adolescents In Educational Outcomes

Abstract

This study examines the self-esteem, acculturation, and ethnic identity of 150 Latino adolescents enrolled in either a bilingual or traditional education program. Bilingual education programs were established to ensure that academic failure was not the product of limited English proficiency. Grade point average (GPA), acculturation, and ethnic identity significantly predicted self-esteem for students in bilingual programs, whereas only GPA and acculturation significantly predicted self-esteem for students in traditional educational programs.

Table of Contents

Abstract2

Introduction4

Purpose of the Study5

Research Questions5

Method6

Participants6

Instruments7

Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure7

Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics-Youth8

Results8

Discussion9

Conclusion13

References14

Experiences Of Discrimination Within Latino Adolescents In Educational Outcomes

Introduction

Ethnic diversity has dramatically increased in the United States over the last several decades. From 1980 to 1992, the Latino population rose from 6.5% to 9.5% and the African American population increased from 11.5% to 11.9% (McLoyd, 1998). By the early 1990s, 1 in every 4 Americans considered themselves African, Asian, Latino, or Native American. Since that time, the demographics of the United States have changed at an impressive rate. In 2004, of the total U.S. population, Hispanics or Latinos made up 14.2%, Black or African Americans made up 12.2%, and Asians made up 3.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). Increases in the ethnic and racial population of the United States are expected to continue at an even greater progression.

U.S. school systems have understandably been affected by the consistent increase of ethnically and racially diverse students. One such challenge is the dramatic growth of the number of students with limited English language abilities. It is estimated that 18.7% of the U.S. population older than the age of 5 years speak a language other than English at home, a number that doubled from 1980 to 2000 (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2005). During the academic year of 2000-2001, approximately 10% of public school students were lacking English proficiency (Morse, 2005). This was an increase of 105% in enrollment since 1990-1991. In addition, the number of public school students in the United States who were classified as limited English proficient (LEP) has nearly doubled from 2.7 million in 1992-1993 to 5 million in 2002-2003 (Morse, 2005).

Latino students are the fastest growing group of students in elementary and secondary schools in the United States (Ruiz-de-Velasco & Fix, 2000). In 2003, 40% of all public school students were considered to be part of a minority group (NCES, 2005). This increase from 18% in 1972 is largely due to the growth in the proportion of Latino students. It is also estimated that currently over 19% of all students enrolled in Grades K-12 are Latino (NCES, 2005). Many of these Latino students speak Spanish and report limited English proficiency. Despite this increase of Latinos in the United States, few studies have focused on self-esteem, acculturation, and ethnic identity of Latino adolescents (Phinney, Cantu, & Kurtz, 1997).

Purpose of the Study

The present study examines the relationship between self-esteem, acculturation, and ethnic identity of Latino adolescents enrolled in bilingual education programs compared with Latino adolescents enrolled in traditional education ...