Pedagogy

The Latino Americans form a large group of the minority population in the United States. This has attracted researchers to focus on the educational system and social economic dynamics of the Latino Americans with some studies providing conflicting demographic statistics. This paper critically describes and analyzes the history of Mexican Americans and Spaniard Americans. In addition, the paper examines the US educational system in relevance to the two Latino American groups.  

Controversy over the use of Latino and Hispanic
Latino Americans refer to a group of Hispanic American people whose origin is traced to Latin America and Spain. Latinos habitation in America is traced back to the 15th century when the first Spanish immigrants settled in America. Although different terms were initially used to refer to the group, the term Hispanics was coined as the official name of the ethnic group since the 1980 US census. Since then, there have been controversies over the use of the two terms. It is notable that Hispanic has a connotation of people who speak Spanish, while Latino is a Spanish world that means people of Latin American origin. In this regard, it is clear that Hispanic refers to the historical and cultural orientation with particular emphasis on language as a distinguishing factor. However, when referring to Latino Americans, this includes all groups of Latin origin residing in America. In this regard, the US bureau of statistics uses the term Latino or Hispanic sparingly particularly refereeing to the origin and cultural orientation of the group including natives of Mexico, Central America, South America Spaniards and Argentina among many others. In this case, the US bureau of statistics excludes Brazilian Americans from this description. More importantly, Hispanic is an official categorization that is widely used in data collection and therefore is widely used in scientific studies and government statistical use. However critics say that the Hispanic is mistakably used to refer to a group of people who may not have any origin in Latin America including the French and the Italians.

History of Latino groups in the US
Latino American groups were among the first minority groups to arrive to the US. Evidently, Spain claimed a large portion of todays US territory before the American revolutionary wars. The colonial powers including France, British and Spain established several treaties to calm down escalating conflicts among themselves while the Americans pushed for independence.  In the civil rights front, the Latinos have had their battle with prominent people like Brown Berets, Hernandez, and Mendez among others making huge contributions. The Mexican revolution of 1910 and the exclusion of Mexican Americans from government quotas in 1921 and 1924 are some of the historical events that characterize the long history of the Mexicans in the United States.
Demography of Spaniards and Mexican Americans
The Mexican Americans in the United States is one of the rapidly growing segments of the US population. However, it is also notable that the Spaniards have exhibited a unique demographic distribution in the US. The Mexican Americans on the other hand, continue to portray certain demographic tendencies that are unique in terms of settlement patterns, education and economic activity among other demographic characteristics (David, 2004).  Notably, the Mexicans and Spaniard ethnic groups in the US are one of the fastest growing segments of the Latino Americans. The two groups exhibited a growth rate of approximately 24 between 1980 and 2000. The whole Latino group in the United States became the largest minority group in the US by 2003. Some of the factors associated with this rapid growth rate include higher fertility rates, low mortality, the age structure, which is skewed towards young age, and continuous immigration among other factors.  For instance it is estimated that the Mexican population in the United States constitutes about 67 of the total Hispanic population in the US.

Table showing Hispanic population in the US  
Hispanic or Latino and race NumberTotal population 281, 421,906100 Total of Hispanic or Latino 35, 305,81813
Mexican 20, 640,7117.3                                                
Puerto Rican 3, 406, 1781.2 Cuban 1,241, 6850.4
Source U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.

Settlement and national origin of Hispanic groups
Although a big percentage of the Latino Americans is concentrated in West and South West urban areas, Mexicans and Central American immigrants continue to inhabit Georgia, North Carolina and Iowa among other states. Some of this settlement centers had no Hispanics a couple of years ago.
Table showing Hispanic Population by national origin (2007)
Hispanic group Population Mexican 29, 189,33464Puerto Rican 4,114,7019.1Cuban 1,608,8003.5Dominican 1,198,8502.6Spanish 353, 0000.8Other central American 111, 5000.2
Source U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2007.

Educational statistics and school enrollment
The 2000 US National Census Report revealed that among the Latino Americans, Central and Southern American Hispanic groups recorded the highest rate of college graduation. According to the report, approximately 19.4  of Cuban Americans have university degree while about 16  of Central and Southern Americans below the age of 25 years have a college degree.

However, Mexican Americans have the least percentage in college enrollment with statistics showing that only 6 of all Mexicans hold a college degree. In addition, poverty levels for Mexican Americans are also high with statistics showing that about 24 of Mexican Americans are poor. Generally, the data indicates that the Latino Americans lag behind their non-Latino counterparts in education and socioeconomic statistics.

With most Hispanic groups inhabiting certain regions and urban centers, it is notable that some regions in the US have a higher number of Hispanic students than others. In this case, given the expanding statistics on the population of Latino Americans, it is also notable that the education system reflects a vital social economic parameter of the Mexican and Central American group.

US educational systems
There are claims that the US educational system is still segregated despite the efforts by the government and institutions to enhance equality in educational systems. Critics of the educational system claim that there are serious gaps in the educational system that create disparity in school enrollment and quality of education. Of particular concern is the belief that the growing Mexican student population might not be catered for in isolated schools. In this regard, segregation of schools has been established as one of the prime factors that discourages Mexican students. However, other critics believe that the segregation has been influenced by the Hispanic communities who do not push for desegregation of the educational system (Sol and Michael 2007). Moreover, it is argued that most Hispanic parents and students find it more comfortable attending schools dominated by Hispanic teachers and students. On the other hand, Mexican and Spaniard Latin Americans believe that the needs of their children are better met in predominantly Hispanic schools as opposed to non-Hispanic schools. Some researchers argue that although black Americans and Latino Americans converge in their quest to have equal opportunities in educational systems, the two groups exhibit different approach for in propagating this where the Mexicans and Spaniard Americans focus on the use of bilingual programs in institutions of learning.

Bilingual education for Mexican and Spaniard groups
One of the issues of concern to the Mexican and Spaniard American groups is the use of bilingual programs in educational systems. In this case, bilingual programs have been cited as possible remedies for disintegration in educational systems with particular emphasis on helping Hispanic students. More importantly, it is believed that language barrier a big contributor to the high school dropout rates for Mexican Americans and Spaniard students. In this regard, the isolations of Hispanic students have been identified as one of the factors that enhances inequality and entrenchment of language challenges. It is therefore imperative that due to the rapidly increasing Mexican American and Spaniard population and the increasing poverty among the Latino Americans, there is need for programs that enhance school enrollment, improve quality of education and enhance pupilteacher ratios.

Conclusion
The Mexican Americans and Spaniard Americans form a substantial part of the Latino American population. Given the social, economic and educational statistics, the two groups exhibit high poverty rates compared to other Hispanic and non-Hispanic groups. In addition, language barrier and cultural orientation are some of the challenges facing Latino American students. In this regard, there is need for the authorities to address these challenges given the low school enrollment and high dropout rates for Mexican and Spaniard Americans.