National Council of La Raza (NCLR)

Hispanic participation in education reform has been limited in the past to debates over access to educational opportunity, bilingual education, and other areas that can define a traditional civil rights agenda. The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, believes it cannot achieve the outcomes it seeks in Hispanic education through this strategy alone. Thus, although NCLR continues to pursue a civil rights agenda in education reform, it has added an excellence agenda that includes controversial policy and program strategies such as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and charter school development.

Founded in 1968, NCLR is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. Through its network of nearly 300 affiliated community-based organizations, NCLR reaches millions of Hispanics each year in 41 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. To achieve its mission, NCLR conducts applied research, policy analysis, and advocacy. In addition, it provides capacity-building assistance to its affiliates working at the state and local levels to support individuals and families. Throughout its history, NCLR has identified education as a priority issue. Since its inception, NCLR has advocated for legislation, including the Bilingual Education Act, to increase access to educational opportunities for Latina/o students. Over the past decade, as noted previously, NCLR has added an excellence agenda to augment its traditional civil rights agenda. This process began in 1997 with the establishment of the NCLR Task Force on Education, which was composed of distinguished education scholars and practitioners. Through the task force's work, NCLR adopted an official position in support of standards-based reform and charter schools.

Standards-based reform rests on several assumptions. First, high standards will motivate students to improve their performance if they are challenged by rigorous academic courses. Second, this type of reform calls for the use of assessments to measure improvement and make important decisions about students. Third, standards-based reform leads to school system accountability. NCLR believes that this educational theory can improve schooling for Latinas/os.

Standards-based reform represents a major shift in how the public schools intend to educate Latina/o students. It has the potential to expose Latina/o students to rigorous curricula. This is where NCLR's excellence and civil rights agendas connect. Specifically, NCLR believes that providing Latinas/os with more rigorous coursework increases the likelihood that they will graduate from high school prepared for college and the workplace. As such, this approach creates access to educational and life opportunities based on the presence of excellent schools. The No Child Left Behind Act encompasses standards-based reform.

NCLR has embraced NCLB as a civil rights law. Simply put, NCLB holds the entire public school system accountable for ensuring that all students, including Latina/o and English language learner students, receive a quality education. Prior to the enactment of NCLB in 2002, the low achievement and attainment rates of Latina/o students were of little concern to the broader education community. Now that schools, districts, and states are held accountable for improving Latina/o education, the question is not should a community educate Hispanic children, but how can educators increase their achievement and graduation rates. NCLB has clearly been a game changer for organizations such as NCLR, who are committed to improving educational opportunities for economically disadvantaged and minority children.

...