ianstone
08-29-2010, 09:19 PM
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Kindergartens show racial, ethnic changes in U.S.
The kindergarten class of 2010-11 is less White, less Black, more Asian and much more Hispanic than in 2000, reflecting the nation's rapid racial and ethnic transformation.
The profile of the 4 million children starting kindergarten reveals the startling changes the United States has undergone the past decade and offers a glimpse of its future. Most of today's kindergartners will graduate from high school in 2024.
(http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/29/20100829kindergarten-change0829.html#)
More Hispanic children are likely in the next generation because the number of Hispanic girls entering child-bearing years is up more than 30 percent this decade, says Kenneth Johnson, demographer at the University of New Hampshire'shttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/mag-glass_10x10.gif (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/29/20100829kindergarten-change0829.html#) Carsey Institute.
"It's only the beginning," he says.
A USA Today analysis of the most recent government surveys shows:
• About 25 percent of 5-year-olds are Hispanic, a big jump from 19 percent in 2000. Hispanics of that age outnumber Blacks almost 2 to 1.
• The percentage of White 5-year-olds fell from 59 percent in 2000 to about 53 percent today and the share of Blacks from 15 percent to 13 percent.
"This is not just a big-city phenomenon," Johnson says. "The percentage of minority children is growing faster in the suburbs and in rural areas."
In Lake County, Ind., a Chicago suburb, the under-20 population went from 51.8 percent White in 2000 to 47.1 percent in 2008, Johnson's research shows. In rural Nebraska's Colfax and Dakota counties, the share of Hispanic youths is rising while young Whites are down from 60 percent to about 45 percent in the same period.
• Schools face linguistic challenges. The share of 5-year-olds who speak English at home slipped from 81 percent in 2000 to about 78 percent. The share of Spanish speakers grew from 14 percent to 16 percent.
"That makes issues of language development and how to teach them even more important than 10 years ago," says W. Steven Barnett, co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. "In some districts, 40 percent of their kids are Latino, and 4 percent of their teachers are. It's a huge gap."
Educators are grappling with the challenge, and "we really have a long way to go before we understand what the best methods are," says Lisa Guernsey, director of the Early Education Initiative at the non-profithttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/mag-glass_10x10.gif (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/29/20100829kindergarten-change0829.html#) New America Foundation.
• Kindergarten enrollment is up, from 3.8 million in 2000 to about 4 million.
Read more: [URL]http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/29/20100829kindergarten-change0829.html#ixzz0y310i8k6
Kindergartens show racial, ethnic changes in U.S.
The kindergarten class of 2010-11 is less White, less Black, more Asian and much more Hispanic than in 2000, reflecting the nation's rapid racial and ethnic transformation.
The profile of the 4 million children starting kindergarten reveals the startling changes the United States has undergone the past decade and offers a glimpse of its future. Most of today's kindergartners will graduate from high school in 2024.
(http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/29/20100829kindergarten-change0829.html#)
More Hispanic children are likely in the next generation because the number of Hispanic girls entering child-bearing years is up more than 30 percent this decade, says Kenneth Johnson, demographer at the University of New Hampshire'shttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/mag-glass_10x10.gif (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/29/20100829kindergarten-change0829.html#) Carsey Institute.
"It's only the beginning," he says.
A USA Today analysis of the most recent government surveys shows:
• About 25 percent of 5-year-olds are Hispanic, a big jump from 19 percent in 2000. Hispanics of that age outnumber Blacks almost 2 to 1.
• The percentage of White 5-year-olds fell from 59 percent in 2000 to about 53 percent today and the share of Blacks from 15 percent to 13 percent.
"This is not just a big-city phenomenon," Johnson says. "The percentage of minority children is growing faster in the suburbs and in rural areas."
In Lake County, Ind., a Chicago suburb, the under-20 population went from 51.8 percent White in 2000 to 47.1 percent in 2008, Johnson's research shows. In rural Nebraska's Colfax and Dakota counties, the share of Hispanic youths is rising while young Whites are down from 60 percent to about 45 percent in the same period.
• Schools face linguistic challenges. The share of 5-year-olds who speak English at home slipped from 81 percent in 2000 to about 78 percent. The share of Spanish speakers grew from 14 percent to 16 percent.
"That makes issues of language development and how to teach them even more important than 10 years ago," says W. Steven Barnett, co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. "In some districts, 40 percent of their kids are Latino, and 4 percent of their teachers are. It's a huge gap."
Educators are grappling with the challenge, and "we really have a long way to go before we understand what the best methods are," says Lisa Guernsey, director of the Early Education Initiative at the non-profithttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/mag-glass_10x10.gif (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/29/20100829kindergarten-change0829.html#) New America Foundation.
• Kindergarten enrollment is up, from 3.8 million in 2000 to about 4 million.
Read more: [URL]http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/29/20100829kindergarten-change0829.html#ixzz0y310i8k6