Journalist Needs Help Researching NYC High Schoolers

[Jzakattack]

Hello --

I am a journalist researching the cultural challenges faced by newly arrived Dominicans to the NYC public school system, and I can really use some viewpoints. If anyone out there can help provide some cultural insight, please respond. All responses will remain anonymous. Thanks.

JZ

[deelt]

Hi JzakAttack:

Here are some references and points that may prove useful to your research:

Dominican and Dominican-American specific studies:
Hernandez, Ramona, et al. "Socioeconomic Profile of Dominicans in the United States." The CUNY Dominican Studies Institute. New York. October 2003.

*This report has a snapshot of Dominican student enrollment with in CUNY, discusses graduation rates, and compares Dominican graduation rates to general racial/ethnic groups. Refer to Chapter 8: The Educational Atainment of Dominicans in New York City. You can purchase a copy at minimal cost.

Fast Facts:
* 49.0% of Dominicans in the US that are 25 years or older had not completed HS in 2000. This is compared to 20% of the overall US population.

* 10.6 % of Dominicans in the US 25 years or older had attained a college degree. This is compared to 24.4% of overall US pop.

* Hernandez points out that while the educational attainment of Dominican immigrants is low, the situation of US-born Dominicans is sharply different.

* Nearly, 60% of all US-born Dominicans 25 years old or older in the US have received some college education, with 21.9 being college graduates. You can compare the latter figure with 13.3% for Mexicans and 12.1% for Puerto Ricans.

* The study also finds that Dominicans have high school enrollment and retention rates higher than other minority groups. Dominican females enrollment rates actually approximate that of the Avg. NYC high school retention rates.

Other Dominican-specific NYC HS data is also in this report.

Howerver, my suggestion is that you need to place this report in context. Here are some of the recent work that has been done on this subject over the last 2-3 years:

The Urban Institute. "High Concentration Limited-English Students Challenges Implementation of No Child Left Behind." September 2005. Washington, DC.

http://www.urban.org/publications/900884.html

Consentino de Conhe, Clemencia, et al. "Who's Left Behind?:Immigrant Children in High and Low LEP Schools." September 2005. The Urban Institute. Washington DC

http://www.urban.org/publications/411231.html

Capps, Randolph, et al. "The New Demography in America's Schools: Immigration and No Child Left Behind." Sept. 2005. The Urban Institute Washington, DC

http://www.urban.org/publications/311230.html

Swanson, Christorpher. "Losing our Future: How Minority Students are Left Behind by the Graduation Rate Crisis." February 2004. Urban Institute

http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/410...gOurFuture.pdf

An article was written in the NYTimes by Greg Winter regarding the above report:
Winter, Greg. "Worst Rates of Graduation in New York, Study Say." New York Times article February 26, 2004.

Swanson, Christopher." The Real Truth about Graduation Rates: An Evidenced-Based Commentary." August 2004. The Urban Institute. Washington, DC.

http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411050_realtruth.pdf

If you want to know my opinions then I can give those to you off-line or via PM once I know a little bit more about what you are doing.

Best to you.
-Deelt

[macocael]

That is an excellent list Deelt! You continue to amaze me with your diligence and your readiness to help people. It is a real pleasure to share the board with you.

The first name on that list, Ramona Hernandez, belongs to the woman who heads the Dominican Studies Institute at CCNY. Previously it was run by Prof. Silvio Torres-Saillant, who is now at Syracuse. The institute's offices are located in the basement of CCNY's library, and they maintain a separate library where you can do research on all these matters. Contact Sarah Aponte,(212) 650-7170

[deelt]

Likewise, Boo. The feeling is mutual. I'm just a girl, repping, from around the block.
-Deelt

[quote=macocael]That is an excellent list Deelt! You continue to amaze me with your diligence and your readiness to help people. It is a real pleasure to share the board with you.
/QUOTE]

[macocael]

Well more power to you. It is good to find such caring and giving people! as you probably guessed I lived up in your neck of the woods for years. Still visit from time to time.

btw, do you know Sarah Aponte? You should get to know her, you two would hit it off. tell her Jon Anderson sent you.

[deelt]

Yes I do know Sarah. I actually met her a few years back. I'm not in NYC anymore and like it that way. I actually only return to see the fam.

You are over at U of NM, right? Do you know Nancy Lopez? She has done some interesting work. She studied her doctorate under John Mollenkopf. To people in the Urban Studies "know" recognize this means a lot.

Originally Posted by macocael

Well more power to you. It is good to find such caring and giving people! as you probably guessed I lived up in your neck of the woods for years. Still visit from time to time.

btw, do you know Sarah Aponte? You should get to know her, you two would hit it off. tell her Jon Anderson sent you.

[Jzakattack]

Deelt --

That is a terrific list. I am familiar with both Dr. Torres-Saillant at Syracuse and Dr. Hernandez at City College. Unfortunately, I have not been able to reach either. I am going to check out some of the sources that you recommended. However, I am looking for some real-life examples, and I don't want to get too data/statistic heavy in a 1200 word article. I am trying to make this more of a "feature" type article than a study.

BTW - I wrote a previous article on Haiti-Dominican relations if anyone is interested. It can be found at

http://www.worldpress.org/Americas/2276.cfm

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks to all --
JZ

[macocael]

NO deelt, I left academe a long time ago. I am a photojournalist. My website is listed on the profile. Long story. Course, teaching at UNM would be nice. I may return to the fold one day, when I can no longer hump my equipment around. I am glad you and Sarah know each other. She is just great.

JZ, both Ramona and Silvio are hard to pin down, it is true. in the former case, Ramona has too much on her plate what with teaching duties and running the study center; in the latter, Silvio is always off somewhere with some new project. You could keep trying but now that you clarified your needs I urge you to contact Sarah, who is always approachable and really helpful and could probably hook you up with some live subjects. Plenty of young people use that library.

PS: Dominico-Haitian relations are one of thethings I work on down here, so I will be sure to read your piece and get back to you on it.

[deelt]

Hey Jeffrey

Both of these folks, Silvio and Ramona, are probably really busy. It's finals time. The nature of the teaching beast. So don't take it personal.

I agree that your article doesn't need to be stat/data heavy at all but it is important to understand what the data does show and what are the overarching issues.

Check your PM (private messages) for other suggestions on how you should go about getting the info you need.

-D

Originally Posted by Jzakattack

Deelt --

That is a terrific list. I am familiar with both Dr. Torres-Saillant at Syracuse and Dr. Hernandez at City College. Unfortunately, I have not been able to reach either. I am going to check out some of the sources that you recommended. However, I am looking for some real-life examples, and I don't want to get too data/statistic heavy in a 1200 word article. I am trying to make this more of a "feature" type article than a study.

BTW - I wrote a previous article on Haiti-Dominican relations if anyone is interested. It can be found at

http://www.worldpress.org/Americas/2276.cfm

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks to all --
JZ

[macocael]

JZ, yeah I finished reading your piece, and it is one of the better articles I have read on the subject. You take time to cover the ground and provide some evidence. The subject is very very complicated and arouses a lot of emotions on both sides (just witness the recent thread about my exhibition here on this very site). Have a look at my website, and you will find more info there.

Meanwhile I would add only one thing to your piece: there are essentially two waves of Haitian migratory movement. The original wave was established a long time ago, with variations through the years, in order to provide labor for the sugar mills. This was an informally regulated thing. At least half of the estimated number of Haitians here can be found in the bateys or in cities like Haina or the capital. However, with the demise of the sugar industry (through privatization, undercapitalization, mismanagement, etc), its replacement by tourism as the leading industry (thus effectively superannuating the bateys), the inability of private concerns to revive the industry, and most importantly the current demise economically and politically of Haiti in the past four or so years, which has compelled a huge number of haitians to cross the border in search of work and food, we are now witnessing a new sort of migratory/labor pattern in which Haitians no longer head to the sugar mills, but instead head for the farm fields of the Cibao, the construction sites of the capital and elsewhere, or set themselves up as chiriperos, coqueros and so on. This wave is unregulated, except insofar as various people in the Armed Forces and agriculture sectors collude in human trafficking. As a result there has been heightened tension because their increased presence outside the bateys, in areas like Villa Trina where they were not seen before, has led to lynchings, burnings, deportation raids etc.

As for Dominican "Africanness" this is more complicated than it may seem. Not only was there no negritude movement here, as on the other islands, but the history of slavery and assimilation worked itself out differently in the DR, partly due to the fact that the island was a backwater for so long and stopped importing slaves in significant numbers shortly after its inception. When Haiti was developed by France, huge numbers of slaves were again brought to the island, and the population there far outnumbered the Dominicans, who by then were basically mulattos, with some whites. I have an excellent article that summarizes all this if you would like to read it. It deals with linguistic matters and why DOminican spanish is not more Africanized like Cuban Spanish.