Why have Hispanic dropout rates remained so high despite bilingual education?
The Hispanic drop-out rate remains unacceptably high, but it is important to note that, according to the Census Bureau, the drop-out rate for Hispanic students has improved since 1972, the year such data were first disaggregated for Hispanic students and around the time bilingual programs were first introduced on a widespread basis. In addition, current figures are deceptively large when compared with black and white-non-Hispanic students because over half of all foreign-born Hispanic persons counted as drop-outs never attended U.S. schools. As the need for bilingual and ESL programs has been recognized by school districts, we know from the Office of Civil Right’s investigative experience that many of these programs whether they include native-language instruction or not are not meeting the needs of Hispanic limited English proficient students because of how they are implemented, despite the best intentions of administrators and staff. Some schools rely on unqualified staff, including
