Dr. Ana Maria Villegas, of Montclair State University, concluded the conference with her research on Hispanics in the teaching profession.
“If we want to improve the outcome of Hispanics in higher ed, we must back up and look at the teachers,” she said.
She said well-prepared Hispanic teachers could potentially improve the academic outcomes of Hispanic students and diminish the achievement gap. In the past 24 years, the number of Hispanic students in public elementary and secondary schools increased by 54 percent, while the number of Hispanic teachers increased only 1.4 percent.
“This is a problem,” Villegas said, “because Hispanic students need Hispanic role models.”
— By Kerri Allen
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