Document Type
Research Report
Publication Date
6-2013
Abstract
This report provides a snapshot of current educational outcomes of Latino students in the town of Taunton. It is based on publically available data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MADESE) that has been analyzed by the Gastón Institute for the 2013 Latinos in Massachusetts Regional Meeting in New Bedford. This report uses the ethno-racial categories assigned by MADESE. It focuses on the evolving demographic trends and the most recent educational outcomes of Latino students relative to other ethno-racial groups in the school district. The first section illustrates the demographic shift occurring in the Taunton Public Schools, with a growing Latino and African-American/Black student population and a shrinking White student population. The second section compares the performance of Latino students in Taunton on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests with the performance of all students statewide and other ethno-racial groups in Taunton. The third section shows Latino graduation and dropout rates, and college enrollment rates, relative to White students in the district and to all students statewide. The second and third sections show that there are disparities in outcomes between Latino and White students in Taunton and between Latino students and all students statewide. Specifically of concern is that as compared to Latino students in other school districts, Latino students in Taunton have one of the highest dropout rates and lowest college enrollment rates in the state. Still, there have been improvements in outcomes over recent years. The achievement gap between Latino and White students in Taunton has narrowed, with especially large improvements on the Grade 3 Reading, and Grade 10 ELA and Math MCAS tests.
Recommended Citation
Berardino, Michael, "Latinos in Massachusetts Public Schools: Taunton" (2013). Gastón Institute Publications. 185.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/gaston_pubs/185
Publisher
The Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Included in
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Education Policy Commons, Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons