ABSTRACT
Chapter One begins with a description of the Latino education crisis, outlining the persistent opportunity, achievement, and attainment gaps Latino youth experience and some of the contributing factors. The characteristics of highly effective urban schools and specifically the practices that have proven to be successful with Latino students combatting the harsh statistics documented by researchers are reviewed. The research methodology is described, outlining how schools were selected and how the data was collected. Short profiles of each of the high schools are provided to introduce them to the reader and document why, in particular, they are worthy of study. A self-assessment tool is provided.
