Success and failure factors among Hispanic students

¶ … Failure of Hispanic Students

The objective of this work is to research through a review of literature and provide an overview of current thinking related to the success and failure of Hispanic Students in schools today. Finally, this work will create a research-based list of strategies to support community college teachers to achieve greater success when working with diverse learners.

Effective instructional practices are critically important when teaching classrooms of diverse learners specifically those inclusive of Hispanic students. Because Hispanic students the lowest educational attainment levels of any student group (Padron, 2002) it is important that college educators adapt their instructional practice to be "meaningful and responsive" (Padron, 2002) to the needs of Hispanic students who often are attempting to learn a new language and who has arrived in the college classroom from a uniquely different background and culture.

REVIEW of LITERATURE

Effective teaching strategies for teaching college classrooms inclusive of Hispanic students will necessarily include teaching that is culturally responsive through facilitation of "literacy and content learning." (Padron, 2002) Cooperative learning in smaller groups provides opportunities for communication to take place between students and assists in the development of social, academic and communication skills as well as decreasing the Hispanic students' anxiety and boosting the self-confidence and self-esteem of Hispanic students. Instructional conversation is described as "an extended discourse between the teacher and students" (Padron, 2002) Instead of having limited expectations for Hispanic students and thereby avoiding any discussion during instruction "instructional conversations emphasize dialogue" with other students and with the teacher. (Duran, Dugan, & Weffer, 1997; in Padron, 2002) Christian (1995) notes that instructional conversations present the opportunity for an important aspect of second-language acquisition or that of 'extended discourse'. Instruction that is guided by cognition is a method of instruction, which highlights strategies for learning that develops the metacognitive development of the student. A stated example of effective cognitively guided instruction is reciprocal teaching which include (1) summarizing; (2) self-questioning; (3) clarifying; and (4) predicting. (Padron, 2002) Instruction that is enriched with technology is also reported as a great facilitator of successful learning for Hispanic students and in fact, for all diverse classroom instruction because this type of instruction "incorporates more active student learning and is more student-centered." (Padron, 2002) Padron relates that the work of Bermudez & Palumbo (1994) cites the fact that web-based picture libraries are wonderful tools in promoting the comprehension of Hispanic students in content-area classrooms. The work of Shaw, Scott, and McGuire (2001) relates that concept of Universal Design in instruction "includes a specific set of principles to systematically incorporate accessible features into a design instead of retrofitting changes or accommodations. Those principles are stated to include the principles of: (1) Equitable use-instruction; (2) flexibility in use-instruction; (3) simple and intuitive instruction; (4) Perceptible information-instruction; (5) tolerance for error-instruction; (6) a community of learners; and (7) instructional climate-instruction. Equitable-use instruction is a principle that includes making use of technology or other aids in providing equal instruction for all students. Flexibility in instruction is a principle that uses instructional design to accommodate a wide range of abilities among students. Simple and intuitive instruction is a "straightforward and predictable manner" (Shaw, Scott, and McGuire, 2001) of instruction. Perceptible information instruction is an instruction design principle that ensures all information necessary is effectively communicated. Finally, tolerance for error instruction "anticipates variation in individual student learning pace and requisite skills." (Shaw, Scott, and McGuire, 2001)