Chapter 13: Meeting the Needs of Hispanic Students in Public Schools: Implications for Principal Preparation

The statistics related to the schooling of Latino students are alarming. Of most concern is that in many Latino-majority school districts, low high school graduation rates and perniciously low scores on all comparative measures are prevalent. In addition, we face a harsh reality: Latinos remain the most segregated group of students in U.S. public education (Gándara & Contreras, 2009). Seventy percent of English Language Learners (ELLs) attend just 10% of public schools in the U.S., and more than three fourths of all ELLs speak Spanish as their first language (Gándara & Hopkins, 2011). With an increase in the numbers of Hispanic students in schools across the country (Chapa & De La Rosa, 2004), this chapter highlights two innovative principal preparation programs with a social justice focus for the educational achievement of Latino students. The crucial role of principal preparation must be addressed so that the school leaders of tomorrow can effectively shape the implementation and maintenance of effective educational programs for Latino students.