Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)

PPIC Research on Pajaro Valley's Out of School Migrant Youth

"Immigrant youth who do not attend schools in the United States fare poorly on many standard measures of well-being, such as educational attainment, English language ability, earnings, health insurance coverage, and poverty status. Most federal and state dollars spent on youth do not reach these young people because the dollars go through educational institutions they do not attend. If policymakers wish to improve the wellbeing of this very vulnerable young immigrant population, traditional school systems are not likely to be a place to reach them. A federal program, the Migrant Education Program (MEP), aims to serve out-of-school immigrant youth as a part of its mission, as do a few local and state programs."

Immigrant Out of School Youth, Public Policy Institute of California, UCSC. (2007)

Research finds that NCLB impacts the drop-out rate....

This 2008 peer reviewed research study from Univeristy of Texas shows that disaggregation of student scores by race does not lead to greater equity, but in fact puts our most vulnerable youth, the poor, the English language learners, and African American and Latino children, at risk of being pushed out of their schools so the school ratings can show "measurable improvement."


To learn more from University of Texas' findings on NCLB impact on drop-out rate,
Click here: http://epaa.asu.eduepaa/v16n3/

Drop-out epidemic, not just a "white" problem

CALIFORNIA DROP-OUTS 2005-2006
Source: California Department of Education, Educational Demographics Office
(CBEDS, sifc05 5/31/07). This information comes to us from Lucia Villarreal of the Pajaro Valley Education Coalition.

Ethnicity Number Percent of Total Drop-Outs

• American Indian 2,833 0.8%
• Asian 38,383 11.0%
• Pacific Islander 2,311 0.7%
• Filipino 11,644 3.3%
• Hispanic 124,571 35.7%
• African American 25,363 7.3%
• White 138,656 39.7%

Total number of drop-outs recorded in California last year = 349,191

Video Link

To see former drop-out students speaking a about their school experience, click here: California Dropout Research Project

New Findings from CDRP

"Recent research suggests that almost one-third of California students will never graduate from high school—and about half of the state’s minority students will fail to do so. These dropout rates hold stark implications for the economic and social welfare of the students who fail to graduate and of the state.

This study investigated why students drop out by asking 133 predominantly Latino California ninth graders in five high schools across the state about the factors they see as motivating them toward or alienating them from finishing high school. The study compared students at-risk of dropping out—those who had failed at least one class or had been absent at least 12 days during the semester (40% of the sample)—with their more resilient peers."

Learn more from UCSB's California Drop-out Research Project's findings here:
Click here: http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/dropouts/index.htm

Our Migrant Family