Culturally and linguistically diverse students: Relevant law, policy, and programming

This study focused upon a student population that has grown and continues to grow at a rate that exceeds educators' knowledge about effective means to address its needs. As the nation's population of culturally and linguistically diverse students rapidly increases, the educational experiences of the largest subgroup (Latino/Hispanic students) continue to be negative—especially at the high school level.; To address these concerns, the problem upon which this study focused was the lack of consolidation of national (US) and state (NC) laws, policies, and programming into a resource for educational leaders. This study produced a description of national and state laws, policies, and programming relevant to limited English proficient (LEP) students. The laws and policies were obtained from a review of laws and policies. The programming information was obtained from national and state agency survey data. The study then focused on the largest subgroup at the high school level and included a description of policies and programming implemented to improve Latino/Hispanic students' education. The Latino/Hispanic-specific policies and programming were obtained from an analysis of the literature relevant to this student population.; This study was classified as an exploratory policy study since demographic trends support its timeliness and the principal intent of the information provided was to influence future policy for LEP students—especially those who are Latino/Hispanic high school students. Some examples of the numerous implications for practice that emerged include the need to incorporate students' native language and culture as much as possible into their education, to address the resource disparities often affecting students' achievement, and to consider non-traditional district/school organization and structure. Further, the results of this study indicated that there are substantive differences between current national and state policies and programming relevant to LEP students and policies and programming implemented to improve the education of the largest LEP subgroup at the high school level. Such results support the assertion that these types of policies and programming are different enough to merit the attention of national and state policy-makers at all levels interested in improving education for Latino/Hispanic high school students—especially those who are LEP.