The goal of this brief, prepared jointly by the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL) and the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI), is to bring to policy saliency--at the national, state, and local levels--to the educational crisis caused by the under-achievement of Hispanic youth. Specifically, this report addresses two issues of particular relevance to the Hispanic community: English language acquisition and middle school preparation. The targeted audience for this policy brief is stakeholders in the education of Latino youth, specifically policymakers and legislators across the nation. The report reviews the relevant research on the English language acquisition of ELLs and middle school preparation of Hispanic youth, then recommends some key policy options for policymakers to consider. Although English language acquisition and middle school preparation are the key issues addressed in this policy brief, there are, other issues-ranging from pre-K to graduate and professional education-that must be addressed in efforts to improve overall educational outcomes of Hispanic youth. If the nation is to respond to the economic and political challenges of the 21st century, confronting and solving the issues of Hispanic undereducation will be an integral component for overall national educational success in the coming decades.