Addressing dropout crisis requires commitment to cultural competence

  By fourth grade, the average reading score of African American and Latino students is two years below grade level. And by the age of 17, the average reading and math scores of African American and Latino students are equivalent to a 13-year-old white child. 

  Those are some of the hard facts shared by Lourdez Ferrer and Stephen Garlington of the DuPage Regional Office of Education in Wheaton, Ill. during a session dedicated to reducing Latino and African American dropout rates on Monday.  

  “If I’m so behind in reading and if I’m so behind in mathematics — give me a reason why I should stay in school?” Ferrer asked. “The number one reason that kids drop out is that by the time they get to high school they are far behind in reading and mathematics.”

  But even though the problems are similar, Ferrer and Garlington said, the root causes are much different. African American students often suffer from historic and socio-cultural obstacles, battling both real racism and a paradigm of “victim-ology” that causes some to attribute ill-fated outcomes solely to discrimination, Garlington said. Latino students, Ferrer noted, face prejudice and also a “family divide” — a chasm caused by linguistic, cultural, digital, educational and immigration-status gaps.

  How best to address these issues? 

  For starters, Ferrer said, “we need to ensure that the staff in our schools is culturally competence — that they have the knowledge and skills that are needed to work with students that come from diverse backgrounds.” 

  And that’s not just for dealing with students. “You can do a lot with the kids — but you will still have to deal with the parents,” Ferrer said. 

  For more information, visit www.dupage.k12.il.us