Educating Latino children in Georgia: accountability, accommodation, and school organization

Using qualitative face-to-face interviews of twenty-two educators in Hall County, Georgia, I explore the impact of the recent influx of Latino students on Georgia schools. In this study, I focus on the two most demographically distinct schools in Hall CountyBelmont and Parkdale. I analyze differences in proportions of Latino students, school contexts, accountability pressures, and accommodation strategies. These school factors, in addition to educators perceptions of Latino educational barriers, are used to explore how and why Belmont and Parkdale have developed different models of school managementloosely-coupled and organic models, respectively. I speculate that Parkdale has adopted an organic model as an attempt to bolster student achievement amidst large proportions of disadvantaged students and mounting accountability pressure.