Chapter 5: Responding to Shifting Demographic Contexts

The population of the United States is becoming more diverse each year. The demographic shifts that are occurring in the nation are evident. Just from 1980 to 2015, we saw the Caucasian population decrease from 80% to 63%, while the Latino population went up from 6% to 17%; the Asian population rose from 2% to 8%, and the African American population increased from 12% to 13%. As of 2015, there were four majority-minority states: California, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Texas (Teixeira, Frey, & Griffin, 2015). These changes have influenced the demographics in school communities, and therefore, opportunities and resources for students in out-of-school time (OST) (see chapters 2 and 4 in this book for examples of demographic impacts on OST pertaining to access, engagement, quality, and professional capacity building among youth-serving professionals). This chapter will discuss the impact of demographic shifts in student populations within OST contexts, with specific attention to English language learners (ELL).