School Size and Location Important for Hispanic Achievement: Public high schools in the seven states accounting for the majority of U.S. Hispanic students (79%) are more likely to have characteristics that negatively affect the learning process and academic achievement, according to a report from the Pew Hispanic Center, 'The High Schools Hispanics Attend: Size and Other Key Characteristics.' The message directed to educators and educational policymakers being that they 'have vastly more influence over the characteristics of their schools than the characteristics of their students,' such as parents' education or socioeconomic status.
Schools in these high Hispanic enrollment states -- California, Texas, Florida, New York, Arizona, Illinois, and New Jersey -- tend to be larger, to have higher student-to-teacher ratios, to be located in central cities, and to have higher percentages of low-income students (see chart, 'Top Seven States by Hispanic High School Enrollment'). All of these characteristics are correlated with reduced educational achievement.
