Academic Achievement and Attainment

At this forum, Dr. Patricia Gándara, presented findings from the newly released book The Latino Education Crisis: The Consequences of Failed Social Policies, which she co-authored. In this book she argues that the education of Latino youth constitutes a critical policy imperative bearing economic and social implications. The Latino Education Crisis outlines educational gaps between Latinos and other students, refutes myths about the Latino population, provides specific examples of effective program models, and makes policy recommendations. A panel of respondents presented their suggestions and discussed the policy implications of the book's key findings. Sarita Brown, President, Excelencia in Education stated that the book sets the stage for a discussion about how communities will leverage change, and focused her remarks on the ways in which the higher education system must make changes to meet the needs of today's student population. There is opportunity in the current crisis.

For the fourth year, Excelencia in Education conducted a review of national nominations to identify exemplary programs and departments at the associate, baccalaureate, and graduate levels with evidence of improving Latino access, retention, and success in higher education. The staff of Excelencia used a multi-step process that recognizes the importance of evidence-based evaluation and referred the strongest nomination summaries for consideration by the following national experts.

In 2006-07, less than two percent of bachelor's degrees earned by Latinos were in math and statistics or physical sciences. Science Educational Enhancement Services (SEES) is a discipline-based equity and retention program in science and math for historically underrepresented students housed in the College of Science at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Over 65 percent of students served by SEES are Latino. Students who start as freshmen in SEES have a retention rate 15 percent higher than under-represented students not in SEES, and a similarly improved graduation rate. Since 1992, SEES has graduated more than 500 students who have gone on to earn 32 MD's, 7 DDS's, 20 Ph.D.'s, 61 MS's, as well as credentialed K-12 and community college teachers.