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Holding a copy of The Elkhart Truth, Goshen College President Jim Brenneman announces the release of a study on Latinos in northern Indiana on Friday at the college. Brenneman cited an article in The Truth about an increasing Latino population as he talked about the importance of the study.|124683

J. Tyler Klassen

Goshen College President Jim Brenneman (left) welcomes University of Notre Dameâ??s Institute for Latino Studies Associate Director Allert Brown-Gort during a press conference announcing the release of a study about Latinos in North Central Indiana 3/25/2011. (Truth Photo By J. Tyler Klassen)|124684

J. Tyler Klassen

University of Notre Dameâ??s Institute for Latino Studies Associate Director Allert Brown-Gort talks about the study done with Goshen College on Latinos in North Central Indiana 3/25/2011 at Goshen College. (Truth Photo By J. Tyler Klassen)|124685

J. Tyler Klassen

Goshen College's Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning Director of Research Robert Reyes (right) listens as University of Notre Dameâ??s Institute for Latino Studies Director of Research Juan Carlos Guzmán answers a question about the research they did on Latinos in North Central Indiana 3/25/2011 at Goshen College. (Truth Photo By J. Tyler Klassen)|124686

J. Tyler Klassen

GOSHEN -- A report released Friday from two local Latino research groups explores local Latino populations to recommend how to improve education for local Latino students.

Goshen College's Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning, in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Latino Studies, spent the last two years researching and writing the report that examines Latinos in northern Indiana and released their findings at a press conference Friday morning.

The report, "Latinos in North Central Indiana," explores in three volumes: A Demographic Profile, Historical Account of Their Settlement 1990 to 2009, and Educational Challenges and Opportunities.

J. Roberto Reyes, research director for CITL, said the data and stories in the first two volumes set the context for understanding Latino students' educational experiences.

The report explains that Latino students generally integrate well into local school systems, but that foreign-born Latinos face more challenges than those born in the U.S. The report also goes into depth about Latino students' parents involvement. Parents offer support for their children's education, but because of newness to the culture and language, that support is often limited, the report explains.

"The issue of college access for Latino students is not simply a concern for the Latino population, however," the study states. "The improvement of Northern Indiana's economic situation depends partly on the education and capabilities of its workforce. For this reason, the ability of the Latino students in this region to access college is vital to the region's overall economic and social development."

To work toward improving Latinos' overall education, the report offers several suggestions, including to develop culturally responsive school environments and guidance practices, to encourage parent involvement in school activities, and to provide more college preparation and application support.

Allert Brown-Gort, associate director of Notre Dame's institute, hopes that the report and recommendations will be used by many area leaders.

"They're not academic documents, they're not meant to be stored in a library," he said. "They're really meant for working decision makers at all levels from the local to the state and, not only in government, in business also."

Reyes said officials from the Goshen Chamber of Commerce's education-business coalition and the Horizon 2.0 Project are working with CITL in understanding the recommendations and their possible outcomes. He said they are also planning to present their research to United Way.

"We're responding to one of the greatest social problems of our time -- the challenge of education inequality in America," Reyes said.

Brown-Gort explained that parts of the report verify what many people were already aware of but that there are also several nuances, noting a change in age demographics as a major one.

The percentage of school-age Latinos is much higher than the percentage of the overall population, he said.

"This is a very young population," he said. "The growth of the Latino population is not, as many would suppose from immigration, but the growth is rather from birth. That means that over 90 percent of the children in Indiana, the Latino children in Indiana are U.S.-born. What that means is that they're Hoosiers, this is their home, this is where they're going to be from, from now on."

Reyes said their report responds to the reality of the increased population numbers.

"It serves as a starting point," Reyes said. "It serves as a foundation of an initiative that we hope will persist for years to come."

Reyes said they plan to next research Latinos' college and higher-education experiences and possibly take a look at Latinos' lives following college.