Hispanic Children Gain an Academic Edge When Their Education Starts Early

“The National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics released a national report, Para Nuestros Niños: Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics, that urges Hispanic children enrollment in high quality education programs as early as possible in order to make more rapid progress in closing the Hispanic-White achievement gap. The Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics, along with the California Community Foundation and Los Angeles Universal Preschool, will address educators and community leaders at a briefing this morning to reveal key findings and recommendations.

Hispanic children, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, continue to lag behind non-Hispanic Whites on measures of school readiness and school achievement, including in reading and mathematics. At the same time, there is growing evidence that large state-funded pre-kindergarten pre-K programs are producing valuable school readiness gains for Hispanic youngsters who have the opportunity to attend them. Head Start also is beneficial. In addition, high quality infant/toddler programs can contribute to greater school readiness. Thus, the earlier Hispanic children have access to high quality educational programs, the better.”

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