Next Generation Charter School: Meeting the Needs of Latinos and English Language Learners

Charter schools have been singled out by the Obama administration as a means to revamp some of the nation’s most troubled schools. Latinos and English language learners are disproportionately represented in charter schools, according to a report by the Center for American Progress.

The report examines the role charter schools currently play in the education of Latinos and ELLs and explores the possible roles charter schools have yet to fulfill in the education of these students. Currently, 1 in 5 public school students are Latino. Forty percent of Latino students are also ELLs, according to the report. Four of the five states with the highest number of charter schools—California, Arizona, Texas and Florida—are among the top five states with the highest Latino student enrollment. The most recent nationally representative sample survey of schools suggests that 23.8 percent of charter school students are Latino.

The report highlights four high-performing charter schools that serve a significant population of Latinos and ELLs. The practices implemented by these high-performing charter schools can offer valuable lessons to both charter schools and traditional publich schools serving Latinos and ELLs, the report concludes.
 

Read the report.