Issues in Educating Hispanic Students

Abstract

The education of Hispanic 1 students in the United States is at a crisis stage. Although the number of Hispanic students in public schools has increased dramatically in recent decades, Hispanic students as a group show the lowest educational achievement and the highest dropout rate. Poverty, poor health, and other social problems have made it difficult for Hispanics to improve their educational status. Consequently, one of our most pressing national educational priorities has been closing the achievement gap between Hispanic and White students (U.S. Department of Education [USDE], 2000). The focus of this chapter is to examine factors that may contribute to Hispanic students' success and to address the complex issues created by cultural diversity among Hispanics in relation to their values and beliefs, since any single approach may not address the needs of all Hispanic students.The educational crisis for Hispanic students has been discussed at length at local, state, regional, and national levels, and there are several excellent reports and documents that have highlighted some of the critical problems facing Hispanic students (U.S. Department of Education, 1998Education, , 2000. This chapter summarizes these issues and offers some recommendations to alleviate the problems. The chapter is divided into four major sections. The first section focuses on the educational status of Hispanic students in the United States. The second section discusses factors associated with the underachievement of Hispanic students, including a lack of qualified teachers, inappropriate teaching practices,