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Los Kitos Team Wish You Happy Holidays!
We would like to thank everyone who has been a part of this year's programs, projects and ventures and also to those that have been loyal readers of the LK E-News throughout the year.
We want to wish everyone a WonderKito Holiday Season and a Prosperous New Year as we look forward to the 2010 census that will provide us with more data on the Hispanic community and more importantly on Hispanic youth to be able to develop programs for, and steer resources to, this important segment of the community and to their parents for the benefit of the children and our future.
Do Hispanic Teachers + Hispanic Students = Success?
Part 2 of 3
According to census data, approximately 80 percent of all English Language Learners (ELLs) in the U.S. are Hispanic. The majority of these students were born in the U.S. Nationwide, approximately 2.5 percent of teachers who instruct ELL students possess a degree in ESL or bilingual education (NCES, 1997). The absence of ELL programs and teachers impacts ELL student academic achievement.
In 2000-2001, of the states that tested ELLs in reading comprehension, only 18.7 percent of ELLs were assessed as being at or above the norm. in the same year, almost 10 percent of ELLs in grades 7-12 were retained. There is a critical need for more ELL programs and a need to train and recruit more ELL teachers to serve this rapidly growing student population.*
*NEA (National Education Association)Duis
Latino Youths Optimistic But Beset by Problems
A new national survey finds that Latinos ages 16 to 25 are satisfied with their lives and optimistic about their futures. They value education, hard work and career success. But they are more likely than other youths to drop out of school, live in poverty and become teen parents. They also have high levels of exposure to gangs. And when it comes to self-identity, most straddle two worlds.
Life Satisfaction, Economics, & Education
* Large numbers of both U.S-born Latino youth (75%) and foreign-born (66%) expect to be better off financially than their parents.
* Like most youths, young Latinos express high levels of satisfaction with their lives, with half saying they are "very" satisfied and 45% saying they are "mostly" satisfied.
* Nearly all Latino youths (89%) and older adults (88%) agree with the statement that a college degree is important for getting ahead in life, but just under half of Latinos ages 18 to 25 say they plan to get a college degree.
* The reason most often given by Latino youths who cut off their education before college is financial pressure to support a family. **
**Pew Surveys Hispanic Youth Straddling Two Worlds 11/2009
What Are Los Kitos Up To?
Los Kitos Work with Liberty Tax
Los Kitos and Liberty Tax will be working together to develop an educational comic book (Edu-Comic) to provide information to the Hispanic community, specially the immigrant community, on the benefits and processes of obtaining an ITIN to file taxes.
This material will provide easy guidelines in a story telling format on how an individual can obtain an ITIN to file their personal taxes regardless of their immigration status as well as provide resources to complete the process.
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