Dropping Out Among Language Minority Youth

Abstract

Dropping out of high school among language minority youngsters, a group characterized by an extremely high dropout rate, has seldom been examined. In this review, direct and indirect evidence concerning school-leaving among language minority youth is discussed. Generally speaking, it appears that the combination of socioeconomic disadvantage and early academic failure-a combination known to be predictive of dropping out-contributes to the higher dropout rate of language minority youngsters. Interestingly, however, although the evidence is by no means unequivocal, studies conducted to date suggest that dropping out is more prevalent among language minority youngsters from Hispanic backgrounds than among other non-English-speaking youngsters. Four hypotheses concerning the higher dropout rate of language minority Hispanics are discussed: (a) It is a socioeconomic artifact; (b) there exist ethnic group differences in the pressure parents place on youngsters to learn and use English; (c) school personnel interact more negatively with Spanishspeaking youngsters than with other language minority youth; and (d) differences in dropout rates are attributable to differences in the circumstances surrounding youngsters' immigration to the United States.It is well documented that dropping out of high school is associated with an array of individual and social costs. For the individual, failure to complete high school is associated with limited occupational and economic prospects, disenfranchisement from society and its institutions, and substantial loss of personal income over his or her lifetime. For society, premature school-leaving is associated with increased expenditures for government assistance to individuals and families, higher rates of crime, and the maintenance of costly special programs for purposes such as employment and training (King, 1978;Levin, 1972).Youngsters for whom English is not their primary language-referred to as language minority youth-are far more likely than their peers to leave school before graduation. Unfortunately, despite the growth of the literature in recent years on This paper is based on a report prepared by the National Center for Bilingual Research as part of its effort to analyze and critically review research on language minority populations. The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of Pamela Adelmann, Marguerite

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