Analyzing Inclusion of Latino Contributions in U.S. History Curricula for High School

Johns Hopkins

In the fall of 2022, the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy (the Institute) and UnidosUS, the largest Latino civil rights organization in the country, designed a project to better understand the representation of Latinos in U.S. History textbooks for high school. Recent years have brought increased awareness that students learn best when they see themselves reflected in curricular materials and classroom instruction.* Learning about the experiences and contributions of diverse groups of people has pronounced benefits for all students, as well.† The United States’ classrooms now include nearly 14 million Latino students, representing more than a quarter of the 50.8 million K-12 public school students.‡ Are these young people and their classmates learning about the contributions and experiences of their ancestors in their history classes? Are seminal moments from Latino heritage included in their textbooks? What variability is there among commonly used materials? This project constitutes a first step in learning about the extent, quality, and variety of classroom content that reflects the contributions and experiences of the Latino community.

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