It’s a cultural thing. Americans value sports over education, Chinese value education over sports, Mexicans value family over education. Cultural preferences. I also think Mexicans have a very strong work ethic. I admire Mexican values very much, and am proud to have a Mexican that married into my family.
So sdrealtor is almost right in saying that ethnicity is a proxy for test scores. But mainly because the middle class and rich Mexicans stayed in their home country, and the poor Mexicans came to the US.
Test scores are a proxy of the education level of the students’ parents. Lower income means less educated parents, so less emphasis on studying and lower test scores. So if you look at a school’s ethnicity and poverty level, you can guess the API. More Chinese and whites means higher API. The Chinese make sure their kids learn English and catch up in the classroom. The Mexicans are not as concerned. You’ve got Mexican families, where the parents don’t even bother learning English. It’s just not that important to them.
I am foreigner myself. I learned English at age 9. It took me 3 months to learn English, and I was bored in school, because the American schools are behind the German schools. I had to skip a grade, because I was so bored, compared to the German schools. The germans value education, esp. engineering, and they are well known for their engineering products.
Let’s not confuse facts with prejudice.
I don’t know about other South American countries, in terms of their importance placed on education.
I don’t say Americans are better for valuing sports over education over family. Americans will put their parents in a nursing home, but I bet a Mexican would never do that. A Mexican mom will hold her baby while she vacuums, while an American mom is content to dump her kid at day care or leave it in a crib while she is cleaning. I cannot judge which value is better, only that different cultures place different values on education. And this shows up in the API.
Mexicans are just as smart as Chinese. It’s just that the Chinese parents push their kids so hard to study. That is the only reason their test scores are higher. But how often did you see a Chinese play soccer or basketball? How many Chinese start a business? Are they creative, playful, able to enjoy themselves if they have failed at something? I don’t know, because they are forced by their parents to study so much. Chinese don’t care if their kids are athletic.
So while all people have the same ability to learn academically and excel in sports (except the Africans do have the genetics to be the fastest runners), cultures emphasize different skills and values. I think we can learn a lot from the Mexicans about being close to our families. I admire their comraderie and hard work ethic.
