a087  0702  20 May 77
PM-Hispano Education, 450
For Release at 1 p.m. EDT
    DENVER (AP) - Children of Hispanic descent lag behind other students
in every major area of classroom study, and the fault appears to lie
with an educational system that does not meet the needs of minority
students, a national study released today says.
    The study, however, concluded that the Hispanic achievement level
was often closer to the national level than black achievement.
    The federally financed study by the National Assessment of
Educational Progress showed that students of Spanish heritage had not
reached the same levels of achievement as other students in reading,
science, mathematics, social studies and occupational development.
    ''If you believe as we do that all children can learn, the data
strongly suggest that Hispanic students do not receive equal benefits
from the education system of this country,'' said an accompanying
commentary by two Hispanic educators.
    ''The mere availability of public education simply is not enough,''
said Jose Martinez of the California State Department of Education
and Shirley Munoz-Hernandez of the Bilingual General Assistance Center
at Columbia University.
    The two educat9rs recommended that studies be made on ways to use
the instructional system more efficiently and suggested a
re-examination of the content and materials used in the various
subject areas.
    ''New approaches must be found to meet the needs of minority
students that apparently are not presently being met,'' they said.
    The National Assessment of Educational Progress is a program of the
Education Commissions of the States, a nonprofit organization that
promotes cooperation among state education and political leaders for
the improvement of education.
    In its study, more than 350,000 students were tested between 1971
and 1975 at ages 9, 13 and 17 to measure their edu8ational
achievement. Of the total, more than 16,000 were determined to be of
Spanish descent - primarily Mexican-Americans and Puerto Ricans in the
western and northeastern parts of the country.
    The study showed that only 54 per cent of the Hispanic 17-year-olds
had reached the 11th grade, compared to 61 per cent of the black
17-year-olds and 76 per cent of the white 17-year-olds.
    Among other conclusions:
    -Hispanic students from the West did better than those in the
Northeast in all categories except math at ages 9 and 13.
    -At age 17, Hispanic students from the Northeast were nearly 18
percentage points below the nation in social studies and 17 percentage
pointsbelow in math.
    The study quoted 1976 census figures showing more than 11 million
persons of Spanish heritage in the United States, the majority in
Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and New York.
    
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