The primary purpose of this paper is to examine the educational achievement and attainment of Latinos living in Arizona. In short, the educational performance and attainment of Hispanics lags considerably behind that of the state’s non-Hispanic white residents. Moreover, the growth in the number of Hispanics, especially children, has far outpaced that of the non-Hispanic white population, raising the importance of this educational gap. This issue was highlighted in the 2001 Morrison Institute report Five Shoes Waiting to Drop on Arizona’s Future.

The specific goal of this report is to assess the future of Hispanic educational performance and attainment in Arizona, but this outlook is dependent to a very sizable extent on the characteristics of the Hispanics living in Arizona. In particular, the educational achievement and attainment of Hispanic immigrants has been substantially less than that of Hispanics born in the United States. Forecasting Hispanic immigration specifically and the characteristics of the Hispanic population generally is extremely difficult for two reasons: severe data limitations, and recent legal and policy changes related to immigration.

This ōban triptych depicts Minamoto Yoshitsune 源 義經 (center left) and his retainers after their victory over the troops of Minamoto no Yoshinaka at the battle of Hōjūjidono in 1184. The warrior monk Musashibō Benkei 武藏坊 辨慶 sits to the right of Yoshitsune. In the lower-right corner lie the decapitated heads of Nenoi Ōyata 根井 大弥太 and Gonrokurō 権六郎.