Ethnicity, language, and educational inequality: Challenges confronting Hmong students in American public schools
Author(s):
Xiong, Yang Sao; Zhou, Min
Editor(s):
Rong, Xue Lan; Endo, Russell
Format:
Book section
Publisher:
IAP Information Age Publishing, Charlotte, NC, 2011.
Series:
Research on the education of Asian and Pacific Americans
Language:
English
Abstract:
This study shows how ethnicity intersects with polity to affect the educational outcomes of linguistic minority students. Using academic test scores and tracking data from California's Department of Education, this study identifies three structural processes that segregate and trap linguistic minority students: state-mandated classification, selective testing, and tracking. The results reveal that these processes jointly limit students' educational choices, their access to quality curricula, and their opportunity to advance beyond high school. Given Hmong students' lower socioeconomic status and their overrepresentation as English learners in California's public schools, we suggest that these processes and institutional practices reinforce Hmong students' educational disadvantages. We provide some theoretical and policy implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)