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Educational issues in El Paso, Texas,

resulting in dropouts

RWS 1301

Danielle Cedillo

Abstract
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Issues with education in El Paso, are greatly influenced by many reasons including

multicultural ethnicities that make up the students of the bordertown and strategies regarding

learning. Most students are of Hispanic heritage, and the majority of those students do not speak

English as their first language. For this reason, as well as many more , multicultural students tend

to run into problems in the educational system. While others are affected by some policies

involving the use of specialized learning programs. Some of these problems might be as serious

as drop outs. To counteract these issues that people in El Paso might have, there are various

strategies and solutions that can be employed and tested out. There are non-traditional

approaches to combating learning problems, some of which have proven to be highly effective.

6-Year Graduation Rate by Race/Ethnicity for Students Pursuing Bachelor's Degrees

https://www.collegeatlas.org/univ-texas-el-paso.html

Educational issues in El Paso, Texas, resulting in dropouts

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The education system in America, specifically El Paso, faces many issues when

incorporating students of all ethnicities. El Paso is a fusion of multicultural students throughout

the world, and as a result the system runs into many difficulties and issues. Another issue in El

Paso falls under a domestic one. The problems of Learning issues in America in cities like El

Paso. Both of these factors of education in El Paso make an impact in the quality of learning that

the students receive. For this reason many students do not graduate and as a result dropout.

Education issues in the United States also expand into the medical field, including nursing

studies and even medical school. Educating students with learning problems as well as

multicultural students can be challenging, but both can be achieved and the graduation rate crises

can be confronted, by approaching education in a non-traditional manner. These non-traditional

approaches include reforms in education including nursing altogether, the use of online

education, and approaching nursing with strategies like real life problem-based learning, can be

effective in a discourse community.

Drop out rates in El Paso have been steadily increasing, while on the other hand

graduation rates have been decreasing according to Ada Spitzer (2006). Teenagers dropping out

affects the students life drastically and can result in them not being as successful. Concerns on

educational issues in El Paso have many affairs, but studies, and reforms, have been

implemented by the years in the hope of improving such an important system of in American

society. Many challenges and problems arise in El Paso and studies are taken place. Analysing

such issues, allow people to expand on research and implement new practices. People want new

forms of learning and different styles because the same practices are not always the most

beneficial and useful. Some of the problems associated with not implementing new practices and
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new configurations can further result in student drop-outs. According to the author Gary Orfield

(2004) there are negative effects and statistics proving that the students that completed college

had shown a drastic increase in them being more successful than the students that dropped out, in

their first few semesters (para. 4).

The use of online education is way for less students to dropout, resulting in higher

graduation rates. Online learning can be helpful when students with learning issues do not

respond well to traditional teaching. Online learning can also make education more accessible to

students who may not have english as their primary language. Students can also benefit from the

sources and resources that are offered on the internet, that traditional teaching may not offer.

According to the author Li Chi-sing (2008) in (para. 6), other progressive forms of online

learning can be helpful to students who just do not comprehend common teaching styles like the

most popular; lecture system, chalkboard, and projector. These forms of learning may not suit all

students fully, therefore causing issues that result in a negative manner according to Madeleine

Will (1986). The overview of online education offers an alternative solution to some of the issues

revolving around current educational strategies that are taken into place.

Multicultural education highly impacts both dropout and graduation rates. Multicultural

education is an idea, and plays an important goal that changes the structure. The major reason for

this might be that it correlates with the fact that cultural minorities have the highest dropout rates

and lowest graduation rates. The percentages of the highest dropout rates start with hispanics,

which make up a large part of the culture of southern United States, being the most common

ethnic group to dropout of school. This is largely influenced by one of the biggest issues of

multicultural education issues, according to James Banks (2009), the fact that the majority of

hispanics as well as other cultures come to the united states without speaking proper english.
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(para.7). This large issue prevents people of all cultures from receiving equality education like

every american should. These issues with multicultural education and dropout/graduation rates

can be prevented by other forms of education such as online learning, and educating children

with learning problems. These issues are associated in multicultural education, they describe

diverse meanings of culture. In order to transform schools, educates must have knowledge about

the influencing of particular groups on certain behaviors studied in students which gives them an

overall consensus. The characteristics are invisible and implicit when they are emphasized.

Rhetoric is introduced in the article because the author is trying to pertain a persuasive writing

style in order to influence their audience. Other issues that students face, is not only not speaking

English but also having learning problems and other issues that can impede proper education.

Students with learning problems face many issues throughout their high school career.

These problems can be serious enough that can force students to drop out of school. These

learning issues should be addressed just as much as the issues that arise from multicultural

education. These minorities of students that do not understand content due to their language or

due to learning disabilities, can be very frustrated and sometimes even give up. For this reason, it

is important for teachers to emphasize on these students, and approach their education in a

different matter. Online learning is the 21st century outlook on the direction of the educational

system, and so far it has been very successful. Students that do not speak English can get extra

content from the internet, as help to understand the knowledge. This can also be very true of

students who struggle with traditional strategies, can take advantage of various sources, ideas,

and various websites. In the most extreme of cases education can be reformed completely, and

real life examples can be used to gather real life experiences and knowledge.
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The education system should sometimes be reformed completely. This is the case for

nursing studies. Nursing has gone through a great reform in recent years, especially with the way

it is thought. Nursing studies has taken a different approach to educating. Instead of the

traditional form of teaching, the modern way of teaching is through a real life problem like

simulation. The modern real life problem is that nurses will be able to employ learned strategies

on real life-like situation according to Elizabeth Rideout (2001). These simulations are very

helpful to students to visualize the way that the real event would be like. All of these

explanations make it easy for students of all kinds learn.

Multicultural education, as well as other issues like learning problems and dropout rates,

can all be worked with and avoided altogether. With strategies like taking different approaches to

education, like the use of online learning and the use of a discourse community. A discourse

community helps to establish the goals or overall purpose while still in including communication

within the community according to John Swales (1990). These strategies will hopefully help

students to avoid having to drop out, as well as ensuring that they will receive the proper

education. This is critical for students ,just as much as retaining the knowledge itself. Sometimes

reform and implementation of new learning strategies, teaching techniques can really make a

difference in how students learn, and ultimately student dropout rates. Finally multicultural

students as well as students with other different kinds of learning issues, can now rest easy

knowing that there are different learning techniques and strategies, and one might work out well

with what is necessary. For these reasons, reform and the implementation of non-traditional

strategies, like online learning, is a necessity for students that have issues learning.
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Reference Page

Banks, James A., and Cherry A. Mcgee. 2009, John Wiley & SonsMulticultural education

issues and perspectives 2009

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Li, Chi-Sing, and Beverly Irby. "An overview of online education: Attractiveness, benefits,

challenges, concerns and recommendations." An overview of online education:

Attractiveness, benefits, challenges, concerns and recommendations., 2008.

Orfield, Gary. Dropouts in America: Confronting the Graduation Rate Crisis. 2004.

Rideout, Elizabeth. Transforming nursing education through problem-based learning. Jones

& Bartlett Learning, 2001

Spitzer, Ada, and Beatrice Perrenoud. "Reforms in nursing education across Western

Europe: implementation processes and current status." Journal of Professional Nursing,

2006.

Swales, John . "The concept of discourse community." Genre analysis: English in academic

and research settings, 1990.

Will, Madeleine C. "Educating children with learning problems: A shared responsibility."

1986.