Generalities about "minority students" can easily hide specific issues related to various ethnic and racial groups -- and the ways they do and do not advance in the American educational systems. The Latino Education Crisis: The Consequences of Failed Social Policies, just published by Harvard University Press, is a scholarly attempt to focus on one fast-growing ethnic group.

As higher ed productivity project unveils new grants, several aim to help states more closely tie colleges' funding to their success in getting students through.