New Directions
Subtitle
Assessment and Preparation of Hispanic College Students
Edited by Richard J. Tannenbaum, Laura I. Rendón, Gary Francisco Keller, Estela Mara Bensimón, Alfredo G. de los Santos Jr. and Alberto Acereda
"New Directions" serves as a national state-of-the-art in assessment and access as it affects the major Hispanic communities around the nation. The book focuses on two themes: (1) the need to raise the rates at which Hispanic students attain an effective, high-quality higher education that prepares them for an intensely competitive, knowledge-driven workplace and world, and (2) the imperative for institutions to adapt to the unique backgrounds, experiences and learning styles of their students and not the other way around.
Core issues examined include the lived experience of and unique challenges faced by Hispanic faculty; the often-overlooked cultural and familial factors that influence high-achieving Hispanic students’ college-selection decisions; the need for a truly integrated K–16 system that better prepares Hispanic students for college-level work and success, including raising the rate at which Hispanic students transfer from community colleges to four-year programs; and the role of assessment in strengthening both student achievement and institutional performance.
Bios
Alfredo G. de los Santos Jr. is a research professor at the Arizona State University Hispanic Research Center. He is emeritus vice chancellor of the Maricopa Community College District and the founding president of El Paso Community College.
Gary Francisco Keller is Regents' Professor and director of the Arizona State University Hispanic Research Center. He is the author of more than 30 books and more than 100 articles on Latino literature, film, art, linguistics and language policy.
Alberto Acereda is senior director of Global Education at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey. Before joining ETS in 2012, he was a professor of Spanish and Latin American literatures and cultures at Arizona State University.
Praise for this book
With the future of our nation's economy depending on knowledge-based innovation and our fastest-growing populations being underrepresented, bridging the achievement gap — which should really be called an opportunity gap — has never been more critical. The responsibility to do so lands not with the 'new majority' but rather the educational institutions placed in and around their communities to serve them. 'New Directions' is an excellent resource for all educators aspiring to achieve this goal.
Mildred García President, California State University, Fullerton
A smart synthesis of the challenges facing Hispanic students and faculty in the U.S. The message is singularly focused on institutional culture change rather than individual deficits. I applaud the work of its authors.
Ruth Enid Zambrana Director, Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity, University of Maryland
