March 2007 March 2007 | Volume 64 | Number 6 Responding to Changing Demographics Pages 34-39 Helping Young Hispanic Learners Eugene E. García and Bryant Jensen They bring many assets to the education process. So why aren't they succeeding in U.S. schools? Although we may label various racial and ethnic groups “at risk” in terms of education outcomes, many are less at risk in certain areas than the majority population. Empirical studies have shown, for example, that compared with children from U.S.-born families, children from poor immigrant families have lower infant mortality rates, suffer from fewer physical and mental health problems, and are less likely to engage in such risky behaviors as substance abuse, early sexual intercourse, and delinquent or violent activity (Shields & Behrman, 2004). These strengths, however, are not always sufficient to keep children on pathways to education success. Bearing in mind that child development is an amalgamation of individual, family, school, and community factors, research suggests a number of actions that education policymakers and practitioners can take to improve the early education trajectories of Hispanics, the largest and youngest ethnic group in the United States. A Heterogeneous Group In 2005, one in five children 8 years old or younger in the United States was Hispanic (Hernandez, 2006). Moreover, Hispanic children make up approximately 80 percent of the U.S. English language learner population (Capps et al., 2005). Born inside and outside the United States, children of Hispanic (or Latino) heritage come from diverse social, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. Recent growth in the young Hispanic population in the United States has been driven primarily by immigration from Latin America (Ramirez & de la Cruz, 2003). A majority of young Hispanic children are of Mexican origin (65 percent), but substantial proportions have origins in Puerto Rico (9 percent), Central America (7 percent), South America (6 percent), Cuba (2 percent), and the Dominican Republic (3 percent) (Hernandez, 2006). Two of three young children of Mexican and Cuban origins live in families that immigrated to the United States, as do 9 in 10 children with origins in the Dominican Republic and in Central or South America. It is important to note that the vast majority of young Hispanic children in the United States are U.S.-born citizens. Eighty-five percent of children with at least one South American–born