Improving Schools for Latinos: Creating Better Learning Environments

As a result of multiple unfavorable circumstances, public schools have been unable to effectively educate America's most disadvantaged student population—Latinos. In this book, author Leonard Valverde contends that it is imperative to reinvent schools in order to provide a viable education for these students. Improving Schools for Latinos starts with the past, points out the present, and speaks to the future. It exposes the negative mental models and practices that must be discarded and proposes what favorable elements need to be put into place. Features: · An outline of what future Latino schools must look like · A focus on organizing, leading, and governing schools to create equitable relationships and democratic institutions · A comprehensive view and understanding about school and classrooms · Helpful resources for program assistance, community-based organizations, funding sources, and more This book will be of interest to all educators who want to create a bright future for Latino students, their families, and their communities.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Foreword Chapter 2 Why We Must Start Now to Create New Schools for Mexican Latinos Chapter 3 It Takes an Entire Village Chapter 4 Engendering New Hope, Si se puede! Chapter 5 Building Capacity and Creating Flexibility Chapter 6 Schools as True Places of Learning for Human Growth Chapter 7 Organizing Schools for Latino Learners and Fostering Creativity Chapter 8 Assessment for Human Development and Reinvention Chapter 9 Holding True to Democratic Principles Chapter 10 A Call to Join the Action

About the Author :
Leonard A. Valverde is a second-generation Mexican American whose education career spans 30 years, with experience in teaching and administration from middle school to the university. He is the executive director of the Hispanic Border Leadership Institute and a professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Arizona State University.

Review :
Valverde (Arizona State Univ.) draws on his extensive experience working with Latino schools, as well as relevant research on school change, to clearly articulate the components needed for improving schools serving Latino students. The author focuses particularly on those of Mexican descent. After providing a compelling argument for the reasons change is necessary, he presents a thorough discussion of the steps required to bring about the desired changes. Valverde provides specific suggestions for ways to build capacity and create flexibility through continual professional development, the incorporation of technology, and the formation of a variety of partnerships in order to create schools of hopefulness, purpose, and positive results. The extensive list of resources identified in the final chapter is extremely helpful. This book would be a useful tool for the many groups Valverde believes should be included in the process of school improvement for Latinos. These include teachers and parents, as well as school, community, and business leaders. Recommended. This publication is at the cutting edge of the study of Latinos in the new century. The author of the publication, Dr. Leonard A. Valverde, provides a comprehensive, insightful, and intelligent perspective...Dr. Valverde has, in this publication, taken steps to begin to bring the new Mexican American school into focus by providing a variety of valuable information as he emphasizes (1) redefinition of schools, (2) community-centered institutions, (3) culturally asset-based schools, (4) real parent participation, (5) a variety of programs, and (6) partnerships with various agencies. Thus, it appears that he is making a significant contribution to education in the 21st century. Teachers need this book, America deserves it, and our students will demand it.