Academic Achievement Case Study

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3. Factors Affecting Academic Achievement In the following, some of the factors that contribute to the low academic performance of Latino students will be presented. However, it is important to keep in mind that the Latino achievement gap is a complex problem that has been caused by a multitude of different factors. It cannot entirely be attributed to the causes provided in the text, which should rather give an overview over the conditions that have been found to be the most important contributors to the low educational outcomes among Latino students. 3.1 Family Conditions and Social Context The social context in which Latinos are growing up has a great influence on their academic performance. Even though “the differences between [the educational…show more content…
In the United States, however, healthy foods, such as fresh fruit or vegetables, are very expensive (Gándara, Contreras 61). This forces many families to buy cheap, high- carbohydrate products that are filling but often do not contain the vitamins or proteins their children need (Gándara, Contreras 61-62). An unhealthy diet can also lead to type II diabetes which is only one of several medical conditions that can negatively affect a child's learning ability. According to Gándara and Contreras Latino children are more likely to develop diabetes than any other ethnic group (64). Poor children are also more likely to suffer from hearing loss caused by untreated ear infections, which “has been associated with reading problems in school as well as the development of attention deficit disorder” (Gándara, Contreras 64). Moreover, vision and dental care are a luxury many families in need cannot afford. Therefore, many poor Latino children are hindered from paying attention in class because of vision problems or toothaches (Gándara, Contreras 63). In addition, residential and school mobility is very common amongst Latino families. The reasons can be unstable economic conditions, high housing costs or discrimination in the housing market (Gándara, Contreras 71). Studies have shown that school mobility can have a great negative influence on a student's academic performance. By having…show more content…
Some of them are even the first to complete a high school education: Patricia Gándara and Frances Contreras found that “nearly 40 percent of Latino students come from homes in which parents have not completed even a high school education, [compared to] 4 percent of white students” (29). Unlike other students whose parents have earned a postsecondary degree, most Latino students don’t have anyone to turn to if they have a college-related question (Kelly, Schneider, and Carey 15). For that reason, they might lack important information about college practices and cultures as well as information about course requirements or registration deadlines (Kelly, Schneider, and Carey

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