Graduating ASAP, if Not on State Timeline - washingtonpost.com: ... Like Lara, many young Latino immigrants must juggle adult responsibilities with school, and they are creating alternative, stop-and-start paths toward a diploma.
'There are some where we probably failed them and they dropped out' and never finished school, Arlington County Superintendent Robert G. Smith said. But then there are those who come back at 20 or 21, he said. 'They would be counted among our dropouts, but sometimes they are our greatest success stories.'
As educators strive to close racial and ethnic achievement gaps, school systems are examining the educational experience of Latino students. Without knowing how many are succeeding under the radar, they can't know how many are lost altogether.
Sarita Brown of Excelencia in Education, a District-based nonprofit organization, said the number of Latino students who don't fit the four-year model is growing fast.
