The Role of Culture, Language
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California has 1.4 million students who are not fluent in English, one-quarter of the state’s public school enrollment. Legions of other students don’t seem to want to learn--they refuse to do homework, skip school when it rains or simply drop out.
The Times’ examination of the state’s system of 8,000 public schools looks today at how factors outside the classroom play a strong role in the success or failure of both students and schools.
Why is it that more than 1,000 California schools did not advance a single student into English fluency last year?
And why is it that on one measure of academic fitness after another--dropout rates, grades, enrollment in advanced courses--Asian students come out on top?
See Section S, the second of three sections detailing California’s perilous educational slide.
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