A Report on the Status of Hispanics in Education: Overcoming a History of Neglect

Overview & Synopsis

On March 10, 2006, the National Education Association (NEA) and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) joined forces and convened an Education Summit in Denver, Colorado. The purpose of the Summit was to have participants (mainly community activists) discuss and provide information and strategies as to how educators and policy makers might improve the educational status of Hispanic students. In order to facilitate the discussion over the two-day Summit, NEA and LULAC staff identified five areas for discussion: (1) Innovative classroom strategies for Hispanic students; (2) School funding and educators' professional development; (3) Early childhood education and postsecondary education; (4) Immigration, migrant education, and English language learner politics; and (5) Early childhood education and higher education The purpose of this report is to examine the status of Hispanic education by integrating the results from the Denver Summit with the information provided by the available research about each of the above five topics. The following are appended: (1) Methodology; (2) State Distribution of Hispanic Population 1980 to 2004; and (3) Definitions of Proficiency Levels for Math, Reading, and Science NAEP Scores.