As the U.S. Hispanic Population Soars, Raising Performance Becomes Vital

By Robert C. Johnston

The numbers are startling: Fewer than two Hispanic students in 10 score at the "proficient" level or above on a national reading test—well below their white and Asian-American peers. Hispanic children are less likely to go to preschool and more likely to drop out of high school.

And, by 2030, they will make up one out of every four students in the nation's K-12 schools. As Hispanics' share of the school-age population—and of the U.S. population overall—grows, so too will the pressure to narrow the academic-performance gap.

A failure to do so, many educators and Hispanic leaders say, will have troubling consequences not only for those children but for the...