Report shows school disengagement among Latino youth - The Washington Post: High dropout rates and school disengagement among Montgomery County’s fast-growing Latino population appear to stem from such factors as low expectations from teachers, a lack of parental involvement and not having regular computer access at home, according to a study released Thursday.
The findings, from surveys of 960 young Montgomery County residents, show how disconnected some students are from their public schooling. The report comes as the county’s Latino student population has experienced a significant achievement gap, a topic that has become a central concern for the school district of 151,000 students.
Latinos have the highest drop-out rates among racial and ethnic groups in Montgomery and make up more of the county’s kindergarten and first-grade classes than children from any other group, according to district and state data. Since 2000, Latino enrollment across all grades has jumped from 16 percent to 27 percent, district figures show.
