Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation

To help keep girls in school and on track for success, the National Women’s Law Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund went straight to the source: Latina students and the adults who work with them every day. Their new report, Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation, explores the causes of the dropout crisis for Latinas and identifies the actions needed to improve their graduation rates and get them ready for college.

Latinas are dropping out of school in alarming numbers. Forty-one percent of Latina students do not graduate with their class in four years—if they graduate at all. Many Latina students face challenges related to poverty, immigration status, limited English proficiency, and damaging gender and ethnic stereotypes. And the high teen pregnancy rate for Latinas — the highest of any ethnic group — reflects and reinforces the barriers they face.



Interventions to address the dropout crisis must be tailored to the different needs of boys and girls of all races and ethnicities, based on the distinct experiences of these students and the enhanced research and data collection recommended by the report. Policymakers, educators, students, and parents all have a role to play in ensuring that students are provided the support they need to stay in school.

Available here is a wide variety of additional reports and resources:

* Helping Latinas Succeed in School: How Schools Can Address Barriers to High School Graduation
* How to Keep Girls in School: Recommendations to Address the Dropout Crisis. NWLC offers recommendations that should be implemented by policymakers; school personnel; and students, parents, and their advocates.

A fully comprehensive dropout prevention strategy also requires:

* Combating sexual harassment in schools. Both boys and girls report that they drop out in part because they do not feel safe at school. Download a fact sheet on sexual harassment for schools or for students.
* Providing better support for pregnant and parenting students. Pregnancy and parenting responsibilities play a significant role in many girls' decisions to drop out of school.
* Ensuring equal access for girls to career and technical education classes. These classes provide training for high-skill, high-wage jobs. Offering career education programs that emphasize the link between academic work, college success, and careers has been proven to reduce dropout rates.
* Ensuring equal access for girls to after-school programs, including athletics programs. Studies have shown that participation in after-school programs improves graduation rates and academic achievement.