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ANNUAL EDUCATE YOUTH
CONFERENCE
Program Mission:
The Education and Youth Development program supports Central American and Latino youth in the Los Angeles area achieve their highest potential in their educational and career pursuits, become civically active and make ongoing contributions to serving their community. The program provides comprehensive preparation in academic and career building, exposes youth to civic participation and advocacy, and offers numerous opportunities to serve their community.
Program Participants
Our youth predominantly live in the Pico Union area, where Latinos constitute 81.7% of the 120,000 residents with 39% of the households earning less than $15,000 per year. They attend Belmont High School students where in the 2001-02 school year, only 10.1% of Latino graduates had taken the required courses to be admitted to the University of California and California State University (California Department of Education). They range in age from 14 to 18 years old and grade levels 9th-12th. All are Latino students with the majority coming from Central American poor families who need additional assistance in their struggle against drugs, violence and gangs.
SALEF and the Center for Higher Education and Policy Analysis at USC collaborated with many individuals and organizations to create the College & Financial Aid Guide for: AB540 Undocumented Immigrant Students, which has been disseminated across the state and nation.
Community needs/issues:
In the wake of initiatives such as California’s proposition 209 which banned affirmative action in consideration for admissions to public universities, many of the advancements being made by Central American and Latino youth are being challenged. SALEF is cognizant of this reality and realizes that in order to promote racial and gender inclusion within higher education and the various professional sectors, it is necessary to offer increased academic and career preparation to these youth. Otherwise this population will continue to be underrepresented in institutions of higher education and the various professional sectors.
In order for our youth to fulfill their highest potential in education, they must have access to a high quality education, graduate from high school and be prepared to enter institutions of higher education. This is not the case for Salvadoran and other Latino students attending the Los Angeles Unified School district schools in the Pico-Union/Westlake, South, San Fernando Valley and other similar areas of Los Angeles. According to a report published by the United Way Los Angeles, Latino Scorecard 2003, tracking LA County high schools enrollment from 1998-2002, it revealed that by 12th grade, 40% fewer Latino students are enrolled than in 9th grade, compared to an 18% dropout for White students. Approximately 30,000 Hispanic youth disappeared from school over these four years of high school in L.A. County alone. Similarly alarming is that only 26% of Latino students that complete graduation are actually eligible for admission to the California State University or University of California systems, compared to 44% for white students, 69% of Asian students and 31% of African Americans in the county.
SALEF realizes that these factors are effectively hindering career opportunities for Latinos. Thus, SALEF is actively addressing this academic disparity by encouraging students to pursue college, while equipping them with the tools and information necessary to make college attainment a reality.
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Evidence of problem/statistics:
In Los Angeles, Latino students comprise 66.9% of Los Angeles Unified School District's (LAUSD) enrollment. 44% of LAUSD students are still primarily monolingual non-English speakers, 93% of whom are Spanish speakers. Another 23% are bi-lingual Spanish-English speakers. These latest LAUSD figures reveal a more than troubling state of affairs for this Latino student majority with respect to both reading and math skills. In reading, Latino students perform at the 15, 17-20, and 16-17 percentiles for grades 3,7, and 10 respectively. While our school system may be failing students across the board, when compared to Anglo student performances -- 54-59,56-58, 47 percentiles for the same grades -- clearly Latino students are placed at the shortest end of this already compromised system. The figures are only slightly better with respect to math scores. Latino percentiles for grades 3, 7, and 10 are 26-30, 23-28, and 27-30 respectively. Comparing these against Anglo scores of 58-65, 57-59, and 58-59, the ethnic divide is still painfully apparent.
Belmont High School, the high school serving Pico-Union residents and thus one of the target school for our program, is among Los Angeles Unified School District’s lowest-performing secondary schools, as demonstrated by the following data compiled at www.greatschools.net and www.schoolwisepress.com:
- Belmont’s 2000 Academic Performance Index (API) score (the most recent year for which API scores are available due to insufficient participation) was 477 (in a range from 200 to 1000, with 800 being the target for all schools). That API score ranks Belmont at 1 out of 10, in the lowest 10% of public schools in the state.
- Only 11% of Belmont students scored at or above the national average on the Reading portion of the 2002 Stanford-9 test, and only 24% did so on the Math portion. Among English learners – which is nearly half the school and who disproportionately reside in the Pico-Union neighborhood – a staggering 1% of students scored at or above the national average in Reading and 13% in Math.
- Not a single 2002 Belmont Senior had completed the required courses for admission to the University of California or California State Universities with a grade of C or better in all courses, compared to 35% statewide – a clear indication that Belmont is not preparing its students for higher education.
- Belmont has volunteered to be monitored by the state as an “under performing” school.
- The dropout rate at Belmont is more than twice the state average, as indicated by its 65% attrition rate as compared to 31% statewide.
As indicated by these statistics, it goes without saying that Belmont High School students living in the Pico-Union community are among those who have the greatest need for supplemental instruction, college preparation and career planning. Accordingly, there is a demonstrated need for after-school academic enrichment, as well as mentoring/tutoring and computer-based programs in reading, math, science, and test preparation in this target area, which needs the program will serve. Because of the particular disadvantages of English-learners – which the above statistics suggest, comprising almost the entire Pico-Union population – there is a serious need for community and computer-based programs that build oral, written and spoken English skills for vocational and social goals, while also promoting adult literacy efforts for individuals and families.
For more information please contact
Delmy Ruiz
Programs Director
druiz@salef.org
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