Demographic Change and the New (and Not So New) Challenges for Latino Education

Abstract

Latino students now make up 1 in 4 public school students in the United States and are a rapidly growing population in nontraditional settlement areas. Yet -persistent racial and ethnic disparities in educational achievement and attainment are cause for grave concern, as high school graduation and postsecondary -education are increasingly necessary for success in a 21st-century knowledge economy. This essay discusses a major shift in demographics across the nation and the resulting urgent educational challenges.

Key words:

• bilingual education
• Latinos
• poverty
• race and ethnicity
• urban education