It is important to know and understand the cultural heritage of Hispanic students if this population is to achieve academic success. Excessive drop out rates coupled with low high school and postsecondary graduations indicate the need for reforming school reading/writing and academic curricula. Also, educators at all levels need to be aware of the varying background and linguistic factors exhibited by Hispanic subgroups. To account for these differences, more and diversified literature from Hispanic writers is needed. Learning strategies that can be self-initiated (such as concept mapping and Vee diagramming) as well as strategies that are teacher assisted (such as the use of thematic organizers) can be taught and used by the teacher to help students better understand conceptual relationships among ideas. (Seven notes are included; 58 references are attached.) (RS)