Research has long shown that Anglos as a group outperform Latinos by a wide margin on standardized math and reading tests. That the inequity among Utah students is not improving is no surprise.
The old question - what can be done to narrow the gap? - has landed in the lap of a new task force appointed by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to do yet another study. We urge the new group to look, not just at test scores, but more deeply at the root causes of the disparity. Correcting this inequity will not be easy; it will demand a new level of determination and a willingness to look outside the classroom for some of the answers.
The study shows 35 percent of a relatively small sampling of fourth-grade Utah Anglo children achieved "proficiency" on a 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress test. The national average for Anglos is 39 percent and, for Latino students, 14 percent. Utah's Latino students average 11 percent proficiency. Most troubling is the fact Utah's Latino student test scores dropped 3 percentage points from the 2002 test.
As the Utah education community has struggled to meet federal achievement mandates of the No Child Left Behind act and to formulate its own stricter standards, the gap has grown. Utah teachers are working hard to help Latino students, but they face challenges, including the largest class sizes in the nation.
Many Latino children start school knowing little or no English; that's the first hurdle. Even if their parents could help them with their studies, they probably don't have the time. Often, these parents are both working more than one job to keep food on the table; by third grade, minority children are lagging well behind their Anglo classmates.
Although the gap has existed for decades, the Utah Legislature has done little to narrow it. Lawmakers this year wrongheadedly refused the state school board's request for $10 million for remedial classes to help struggling students and rejected a plea for $6 million to help boost math instruction in early grades.
Without more funding, there may be little the new task force can do. Nevertheless, as minority student enrollment grows, Utah can no longer ignore this glaring inequity.
