Maddy

Burns
EDFD 460
J. Traver

Ethnicity and Race

Research Report #1

Citation:

Lukes, M. (2014). Pushouts, shutouts, and holdouts. Sage Journals, 49(7). Retrieved

February 6, 2017, from

http://journals.sagepub.com.wsuproxy.mnpals.net/doi/full/10.1177/004208

5913496796

Credentials:

Marguerite Lukes is the director of National Initiatives/Project RISE at the

International Network for Public Schools. She also works at the City University of

New York. She earned her PhD at New York University. She has been working to

educate and advocate for bilingual students as well as English learners for upwards

of 30 years.

Authors Reasoning:

Lukes has dedicated her life to working with immigrants, bilingual students,

and English learners. She performed this study to analyze the pre- and

postmigration factors that impact school participation of Latino immigrant young

adult dropouts in New York City.

Central Argument:

Created by Dr. Nicholas Wysocki, Adapted by Joel J. Traver, 2017

 In this article, Lukes explains the study she performed in order to determine the

affects of immigration on education. She discussed factors like interrupted

schooling, poverty, language barriers, and lack of access. In her introduction, she

states

To date, studies of the educational pathways and experiences of immigrant high school

dropouts consistently conclude that their interrupted education not only reflects

structural and economic barrier to school participation, but also reveals a general

disinterest in education and represents a termination of their educational trajectories.

The article analyzes the different experiences students have and how these

experiences affect their learning.

This article and study is very important because the issue of incomplete

education and low literacy rates, as well as a lack of basic skills and understanding

of the English language among Latino immigrants is a serious problem. This

problem is so serious because without this education, there is an entire generation

of immigrant children who are growing up and becoming residents but they have

limited options for jobs and this perpetuates the cycle of poverty and poor

education among immigrants.

My Analysis of the Article:

Significant points the author(s) Relationships the author(s) make
makes about the ethnic or racial between the points at the left and some
student groups culture in relation to of the academic indicators listed in my
the academic learning environment. Social Construct Lecture located in
D2L.
1) Point 1: It is very common to hear 1) This greatly limits the ability for
people describe Hispanic people, upward mobility in jobs and also can
especially Mexicans, in America as make learning English more difficult.
hard workers. While this is a It also limits the ability to form
stereotype that can be incredibly relationships with people who can
offensive to some, there is some solid help aid in education and push these
reasoning for why many Americans young adults to get an education and

Created by Dr. Nicholas Wysocki, Adapted by Joel J. Traver, 2017

 believe this. Many Hispanics come to allow for a better life.
America with little intention to live
here permanently, but often to come 2) This desire to learn but lack of
for a while and work. The author opportunities to learn, in the home as
discusses that many people come and well as at school, deeply affects the
work for a while in order to better education of the Latino populace as a
support their families back home. whole.
This interrupts education and
belittles the importance of earning a 3) This topic of discussion arguably
degree. affects all the academic indicators
listed in the lecture. It limits the
2) Point 2: Lukes identifies many times amount of opportunities to learn,
throughout the article that education deeply affects grades and GPA,
is an important value for Latinos, but creates low graduation rates, often
the challenge of access and leads to behavioral issues from stress
opportunity among immigrants is an and exhaustion, burdens
incredibly overwhelming obstacle. relationships and stunts their
Many families cannot afford to send growth, and also frequently makes
their children to school or support college feel impossible.
their children in their education due
to work and often inconvenient 4) This reasoning for dropping out
schedules. Many students also have affects the graduation rates of Latino
their educations interrupted by the immigrants in America drastically.
need to emigrate from the country These families are often separated
that can cause large gaps in periods and it is not uncommon for the
of education. children, especially those that are
high school aged, to be expected to
3) Point 3: While many immigrants work to support their families. This
want to go to school and pursue an expectation and need makes full time
education, the overwhelming schooling nearly impossible for most.
challenges that come with moving to This also removes the option for
another country often put so much these children to attend college and
strain on them and their families that significantly limits their capability to
they are unable to remain in school. find a stable and successful career.

4) Point 4: It is common to assume
students dropout due to disinterest
in education, but rather the most
common factor for dropping out is
socioeconomic status. Students are
unable to attend school often because
they need to work, to either support
themselves or their families. It is
often the children of the family who
know English more efficiently than
the parents in immigrant families, so
often the children are better able to
find work.

Created by Dr. Nicholas Wysocki, Adapted by Joel J. Traver, 2017

Application to my life:

Because I have lived in the Midwest for my whole life, I have had very limited

exposure to Latino students in a school setting. I am majoring in Spanish and have

been taking Spanish courses for seven years, so in these classes I have had more

exposure to the culture and some of the challenges Hispanic people face, especially

as immigrants. Oddly, I have not learned much about the experiences of Latinos in

education, so this study was very interesting to me as a future teacher and also as

someone who is dedicating a large portion of my time to learning about the lives of

Latin Americans in the USA.

This will most definitely affect my future classroom because it has opened

my eyes to some of the unexpected challenges newly immigrated students face. It is

often easy to overlook a lot of the challenges these children face. I think this article

has allowed me to see a bit more or what these students deal with, which also allows

me to be able to better adapt my expectations and better serve these students in

ways I I otherwise may not have been able to do.

Created by Dr. Nicholas Wysocki, Adapted by Joel J. Traver, 2017