Centro Journal ISSN: 1538-6279
[email protected] The City University of New York Estados Unidos Mercado, Carmen I. Recruiting and Preparing Teachers for New York Puerto Rican Communities: A Historical Publicy Policy Perspective Centro Journal, vol. XXIV, núm. 2, 2012, pp. 110-139 The City University of New York New York, Estados Unidos Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=37730308006 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative 110 CENTRO JOURNAL volume xxiv • number ii • fall 2012 Recruiting and Preparing Teachers for New York Puerto Rican Communities: A Historical Publicy Policy Perspective carmen i. mercado abstract In this article I argue that it is time to focus attention on the recruitment and preparation of quality teachers in and for U.S. Puerto Rican communities as a way to address the low-educational attainment and school success of Puerto Rican youth. Although teacher quality is the one factor that has consistently had the largest impact on student success, policies and practices that affect teacher recruitment and preparation are barriers to increasing teacher quality in and for Puerto Rican communities. Nevertheless, advocating for change in the 21st century requires an- ticipating the challenges we face as well as the powerful tools and practices that are needed to overcome these challenges. This article takes a historical, public policy perspective to identify the broad range of resources the Puerto Rican community has developed over six decades of community activism, in the largest Puerto Rican city and Latino city that also prepares the nation’s teachers.