Asian and Hispanic educational differences and their impact on spatial and socio-economic inequity in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Abstract

During my 15 years as an English-as-a-second-language teacher in the Oklahoma City Public Schools I observed that Asian and Hispanic students had different degrees of academic success. Asians were better students than Hispanics and their families would move to better neighborhoods faster than Hispanics. These differences prompted me to ask how culture impacts education and how education is related to income and residential patterns.

Two major assimilation models by M. G. Smith and M. M. Gordon are currently accepted. Smith believes that in the same society different groups will sustain their cultural values over time. Gordon believes that most cultural values will be sustained over time, but that some important legal and cultural norms will be adapted that will lead to greater equity between ethnic groups. My research supports Gordon's position.

What I found is that culture does impact education. Cultural values have Asians trying harder as students. Both culture and education are related to income and occupational status. As income increases Asians, and more gradually Hispanics, in Oklahoma City and Tulsa disperse to areas of better housing. Assimilation accelerates with their outbound residential movement. In geographical terms, what I found is that education, income, and assimilation increase with distance from older ethnic neighborhoods.