Case Study: The Union City School District and the Racial Achievement Gap

As of 2009, 15.8% of the U.S. population was Latino, and this number is expected to rise in the coming years. Despite the increasing presence and importance of Latinos in the U.S., our education system still largely fails Latino students. In 2008, Latino students in the fourth grade scored an average of 21 points lower than non-Hispanic white students on both reading and math National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP 2009). In addition, the dropout rate for Latino students is 18.3%, compared to 4.8 for whites.

These educational gaps are especially salient in the state of New Jersey, whose population is 16% Hispanic, 44% of whom are foreign born. The gap in reading scores between Hispanic and white children in the state is even greater than the national average. However, one school district, Union City, has managed to close the gap on reading and math in statewide tests in the third grade and narrow the gap in eighth, despite having a student population who primarily speak Spanish as their first language and are poor enough to receive free- or reduced- cost lunch. David Kirp of the University of California, Berkeley will conduct an extensive study of the Union City school district in order to understand how they have had such success in bringing Latino students into the mainstream, raising scores and strengthening English-language skills, and whether or not this model is replicable in other areas. Research methods include participant observation at district, and school board meetings, interviews, review of internal documents, and extended interviews and classroom observation at one Union City school.