Educators: Life Experience Barrier To Low-Income Students

SPRINGDALE -- It isn't graduation rates or grades that keep students out of college. It is a lack of vision and preparedness, educators said.

The life experience of most students at Sonora Middle School in Springdale is narrow, said Jonathan Buchanan, assistant principal.

At A Glance

ACT In Arkansas

How many Arkansans are college-ready by ACT testing standards?

The ACT sets a minimum score for each test which measures a student’s college readiness. If the student reaches the minimum score, they have a 50 percent chance of getting a B or higher in that subject.

Scores below are for the 25,875 Arkansas members of the graduating class of 2013.

SubjectState ScoreNational Score*College-Ready Score

English Composition6364*18

College Algebra3544*22

Social Science3944*22

Biology2936*23

Source: ACT Arkansas 2013 report

His students are unlikely to visit a museum this summer or while on vacation, Buchanan said. They see themselves with a future much like their parents, working to make ends meet.

The majority of students at Sonora are considered to be from low-income families, and about half are still learning English, according to state demographic numbers. Hispanic and Pacific Islander students are both represented. The typical Sonora student is statistically less likely to attend college because of poverty or minority status.

There are students at Sonora who live four miles from Fayetteville, but have never been to the University of Arkansas, even for a ballgame, Buchanan said. They haven't driven past the school. They don't know where it is.

"You have to create the vision for these kids," Buchanan said.

Experiences are part of what makes up the human capital of a student, said Luis Fernando Restrepo, assistant vice chancellor for diversity and community diversity affairs at the University of Arkansas. Restrepo was one of the speakers at the Bridging the Gap Symposium Thursday. The Arkansas Department of Education Commission on Closing the Achievement Gap hosted the symposium in partnership with the diversity office and other local groups.

There are two reasons young people don't make it to college: college knowledge and a lack of social capital, Restrepo said.

Students have to begin preparing for college early by taking foundational classes that prepare them for Advanced Placement courses later in school. The advanced classes, and their involvement in volunteer work, will play into scholarship applications later.

High school students who come from low-income families, who are first-generation college students, immigrants or English learners might make admission standards, but scholarships could still be out of reach, he said.

A typical honors student will take the ACT five times or more because he knows there is money tied to those scores, Restrepo said. The state will pay for two ACT tests for a student who qualifies for free or reduced-price lunches, but that doesn't take into account the tutoring or other opportunities had by wealthier peers, he said.

Nationwide the number of Hispanic students taking the ACT test increased by 94 percent from 2009 to 2013, according to a report from the testing company. Students who tested as college-ready were more likely to enroll in college, but fewer Hispanic students meet ACT's projected scores for college readiness than the overall population. Pacific Islander students, while scoring low, still scored higher than Hispanic students, according to the report. ACT does not measure student scores as compared to income.

Education for Hispanic students is a national issue and one key to Northwest Arkansas issue, Restrepo said.

"If we fail educating our Latino students, we fail as an area, because we won't have the workers that we need," he said.

Teachers and administrators are doing a better job of reaching out to Hispanic students, Restrepo said. The number of Hispanic students has increased at the University of Arkansas from 600 in 2009 to 1,500 last year. He worries that students will self-segregate by not aiming as high as they could.

"We're nowhere near where we need to be, our college-going rate is so low," said Kathryn Birkhead, director for diversity and inclusion at NorthWest Arkansas Community College.

Requiring undocumented students to pay out-of-state tuition is another barrier faced by students, she said. Those students are already unable to receive federal scholarships and Pell grants.

"It's almost economically impossible for undocumented students to go into a public university," she said.

State lawmakers will need to address the current out-of-state tuition guidelines, Restrepo said. Arkansas should consider doing away with the current English-only mandate. If students with a background in Spanish could learn English without forsaking their mother tongue, they would learn faster, he said.

Many first year students aren't prepared to meet deadlines and function as adults when they arrive at college. Those born in the United States from households that speak another language worry about language.

"They struggle and they come with shame of they're own language," Restrepo said. "We're producing that shame."

Bilingual education could support students, he said. Other needed changes include preschool, after-school and summer programs for low-income or minority students. State funding for public schools does not extend to those programs.

An affluent student will go to preschool or summer camp, Restrepo said. A low-income student can lose three months of learning without access to summer camps or schools.

Schools find options to help students, said Kimberly Burgess, English as a Second Language designee from Bentonville. There are as many different solutions for children with opportunity gaps as there are students, she said.

Connections and relationships with students help, she said. Teachers have to think outside of the box to find solutions that match student needs.

"You've got to look at the whole picture," Burgess said.

NW News on 06/16/2014

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