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These results of an initial research project call urgently for more detailed research and analysis towards taking steps in the coming years to ensure a brighter future for all Filipino students regardless of where they reside and whether they attend public or private schools.
Study Implications
One can look at the national picture of Filipino students in the K-12 public school system as a glass that is half-full or half-empty. There are areas where Filipino students are succeeding academically. But there are also high numbers of Filipinos doing poorly, especially in cities and areas where the Filipino community has been around for 100 years or more.
In these areas one may find the local school district responding inadequately to the critical needs of first- generation immigrant students and students who have become fully “Americanized.” These have become less academically achieving and may soon be caught in the insidious cycle of poverty, becoming permanent members of the low-educated and low-skilled group vying for low-paying jobs. The research group expressed several concerns:
• Insufficient advanced academic preparation leading to a lack of sustainability and ascendancy in the careers of young Filipinos in the workplace, thereby diminishing their preparation for national and global economies.
• Filipino youth unable to participate in higher level jobs with higher incomes.
• Minimum involvement of Filipino parents and community members in their local school system due to past historical tradition and practices resulting in Filipino student needs going unheeded.
• The low number of Filipinos going on to higher education and graduating, especially in teacher education, creating an anemic pool of future Filipino teachers to cope with serious deficiencies in the school system.
• If not reversed, the “colonial mentality” that still persists in both Filipino adults and youth will make it all the more difficult to reverse the pattern of low academic achievement afflicting Filipino students in the K-12 public school system.
Recognizing that the K-12 Filipino student academic situation cannot be left to resolve itself, the group researchers recommended urgent action at several levels – the school system, the Filipino community and the Filipino parents
