This article features Brownsville Independent School District which was awarded the prestigious 2008 Broad Prize for Urban Education for being the nation's most improved urban school district. The Texas border district sees teacher training and data-based instruction as paths to learning gains--and the $1 million Broad award adds validation. In…

When it comes to educational challenges, the nation's 12.1 million Hispanic schoolchildren face plenty: language, poverty, lower-than-average graduation rates for high school and college, and, more recently, a wave of laws targeting illegal immigrants that has made school seem like less of a safe haven for Hispanic students in some states. Yet, as…