Rivera Urges: Don't Treat All Latino Students the Same Way

Insight into the lives of Latino students is critical if educators want to help them excel.

In her session titled "How to Increase Academic and Social Gains in Latino Students," Anica Diaz Rivera explained that while Hispanic students may have the Spanish language in common, they are not all the same.

Cultural differences factor into relationships between parents and the school, Rivera said.

For instance, many Latinos do not question authority figures, such as teachers. As a result, they have to be encouraged to participate in parent-teacher organizations.

"It's not that they don't care," said Rivera, who works with Latino students at Campbell Middle School in Smyrna, Ga. "They have no idea what we expect."

The daughter of immigrant Puerto Rican parents, Rivera said teachers can begin to earn trust during orientation. Translating material that is sent home and offering translators during meetings as well as food and child care goes a long way toward fostering support.

Understanding the dynamics of an immigrant family is also essential to helping a child get ahead. Because many parents are in "survival mode," they depend on their children to translate for them at doctor's offices or help with job applications and rental agreements. This dilemma not only pulls children from the classroom, but makes parents reluctant to discipline children over bad grades.

"The child ends up getting control and, out of guilt, parents allow it to happen," Rivera said.

So Rivera tries to show parents how their behavior affects the child's learning. She will go as far as convincing parents to give up a few days of work-often without pay-so they can shadow their child in school.

Parents learn firsthand that their child is unprepared and not doing their homework.

"What 6th- or 7th-grader wants to have Mom following you?" Rivera said.

• In her conference session, Ana Martinez Aleman warned that the dropout rate for Latino students in Texas is rising and Latino youth risk becoming "unused resources in our democracy." Read more in our newest blog entry, Leaving Latino Students Behind.

• How do educators in countries outside the United States teach about other cultures? Find out how conference attendees from outside the Unites States answered this.

• Read about adapting practice to address changes in demographics and culture.

• Join ASCD's Hispanic/Latino-American Critical Issues network.

• Explore the issues involved in Multicultural Education.

• How effective are bilingual education programs for improving the English reading skills and general content knowledge of English language learners (ELL)? Find out in ResearchBrief.