Educational Policy and the Growing Latino Student Population: Problems and Prospects

Abstract

In this article, the authors contend that school reform proposals in the 1980s and 1990s have ignored the changing racial and ethnic complexion of our nation. An analysis is provided of the government's school reform responses to the rapidly growing Latino student sector. The authorsfirst provide a discussion and critique offive major assumptions of 'first wave" reform. For example, one of the assumptions is that students are homogeneous. In this article, it is argued that this assumption is not only false, but it creates barriers in comprehending and appreciating Latino student diversity. Second, a discussion is presented of school reform and its negative consequences for Latino students (i.e., schoolfailure and retention, stratification, inequity). Third, the authors offersome specific implicationsforpolicymakers and administrators (e.g., policymakers need to embrace school policies that are embedded in multiculturalism; and administrator preparation programs should provide new and different perspectives that are in tune with current thinking, such asfeminist and multicultural views). The article closes with a brief overview of several concrete policy actions that can be taken to improve education for the fast growing Latino student population.