Prototype Issue
San Gabriel Valley Schools Ahead of the Game
By Jennifer Kim
(page 1 of 1)Cristen Ferro, 40, a Caucasian native of Alhambra, remembers when the Asian influx to the San Gabriel Valley began in the 1970s.
She says her maiden name –Young- often got confused with Asian students’ surnames. Her 13-year-old, red-haired, “Opie”- looking son currently goes to the same elementary school she attended as a girl. But now the Alhambra Unified School District’s population of about 19,000 is predominantly Asian (52.7%) and Latino (39.4%) with White (5.2%), Filipino (1%), and African American (0.8%.)
While working the concession stand at her son’s little league game in Almansor Park, Ferro described how “academically-driven” Asians have changed education in Alhambra. “All I ever see in the newspaper is what the schools are accomplishing. They are benefiting from the influx of Asians, but that’s just keeping the smart kids smart. Is that really fair?”
Just by looking at numbers provided by the California Department of Education, the top- performing public schools in the San Gabriel Valley – those that meet or exceed the State’s API Base Target Score of 800 (the scale is from 200-1000) – are all schools that have Asians or Whites as the largest ethnic group. At the same time, Asians have the highest API scores of all the ethnic/racial subgroups in this region and statewide. The notable districts are San Marino (API Base Score 940), La Cañada (917), Arcadia (885), South Pasadena (873), Walnut Valley (865), Temple City (839), Glendora (821), and Claremont (801).
The data also shows that Latinos comprise the largest ethnic group in the lower performing schools such as El Monte Union High (646), Asuza Unified (655), and Montebello Unified (655). In total, the San Gabriel Valley has 30 different, K-12 school districts with Latinos being the largest ethnic group in 17 districts, Asians in 8 districts, and Whites in 5. Incidentally, LAUSD’s API is 655, and all but three San Gabriel Valley school districts surpass this.
So what contributes to the successful San Gabriel Valley student? Culture? Economics? Tutoring? Boba?
“The Latino culture appreciates education; immigrants know it’s their way out,” says Adele Andrade-Stadler, Alhambra School Board President and a parent. However, she feels economics play a larger role than culture in bringing challenges to Latinos. “I’m not saying you have to be rich to do well, but when a family is trying to make rent, work becomes an important goal.”
Dr. Gary D. McGuigan, principal of Huntington Middle School in highly-affluent San Marino, knows his student body (61.7% Asian, 30.9% White, 5.2% Latino, 0.7% African American) comes in with many advantages, such as having parents who are highly educated professionals. He estimates 20 to 30 percent of his students get private tutoring, not for remedial reasons, but to be “above the curve and ahead of the game.” The school tries to discourage this practice.
Dr. Younghee Jang, Director of Student Assessment and Program Evaluation for the Pasadena Unified School District says that achievement gaps are created by a combination of factors such as family structure, the family’s value system and emphasis on education, income and poverty levels, language issues, and parent educational level. She has observed that in general, “Asians tend to place more value on educating kids.”
Meanwhile in Monterey Park, Veronica has hired me to tutor her 9th grade son who recently came from Hong Kong. She says, ”I hope he can go to university and do better, rather than finishing high school and just getting a job.”
Lupe, another Alhambra Little League parent, loves her children’s school and how community oriented it is, but says they need a one-on-one tutoring program, even if there is a minimal fee.
Ferro’s son has grades that will sometimes slip into the D range. He has ADHD. Then she says, “I’ll crack my whip and he gets nothing below a C on report cards.” About helping kids do well in school these days, she says, “It takes a village.”
Discussion