| dc.contributor |
Kirlin, Mary |
en_US |
| dc.contributor.advisor |
Wassmer, Robert W. |
en_US |
| dc.contributor.author |
Papailias, Eleni V. |
|
| dc.date.accessioned |
2012-01-13T21:49:06Z |
|
| dc.date.available |
2012-01-13T21:49:06Z |
|
| dc.date.issued |
2012-01-13 |
|
| dc.date.submitted |
2011-11-30 |
|
| dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.9/1433 |
|
| dc.description |
Thesis (M.P.P.A., Public Policy and Administration) -- California State University, Sacramento, 2011. |
en_US |
| dc.description.abstract |
With Latinos being California’s largest ethnic group, making up approximately 38 percent of the state’s total population and 49 percent of the state’s K-12 population, it is no surprise that Latinos are projected to become the majority of California’s population by 2050. However, Latino students continuously fall well below the academic achievement levels of white and Asian students. A likely consequence of this pattern is that a majority of these students will not be well-prepared for college-level academic work, resulting in a significant percentage of California’s future labor force unable to meet the demand for skilled workers. Using data from the Department of Education and Zip Atlas, I conducted a multivariate regression analysis to explain factors that are related to California high schools’ Latino academic achievement scores, focusing primarily on teachers and administrators’ race/ethnicity. The regression analysis finds that several explanatory variables, including teachers’ and administrators’ race/ethnicity, a high school’s charter status, various student subpopulations (i.e. – percentage of English-language learners, percentage of African American students), parent college education experience, and the Latino population in a high school’s zip code have a significant effect on Latino academic achievement. A subsequent qualitative analysis of administrators’ opinions of the quantitative results echo the findings of the regression analysis in that Latino academic achievement is influenced by multiple variables. However, administrators indicate that the variation in students’ academic achievement scores go beyond the relationship between school leaders’ race/ethnicity and academic achievement. They suggest that reducing the academic achievement gap between Latinos and their white and Asian counterparts must be addressed by increasing school and community support and expectations, in conjunction with the time and resources available to leaders to sufficiently address Latino students’ academic challenges as a subgroup and individually.
This report provides additional information supporting the complexity in finding a single solution to the multifaceted issue of maintaining and improving Latino academic achievement. |
en_US |
| dc.description.sponsorship |
Public Policy and Administration |
en_US |
| dc.language.iso |
en_US |
en_US |
| dc.subject |
California's academic achievement gap |
en_US |
| dc.subject |
Academic Performance Index (API) scores |
en_US |
| dc.subject |
Race and academic achievement |
en_US |
| dc.title |
An examination of the correlation between school leaders' race/ethnicity and Latino academic achievement in California |
en_US |
| dc.type |
Thesis |
en_US |
