To assist state policy makers, six papers and five brief reactions discuss the elementary and secondary educational needs and expectations of six minority groups: blacks, Mexican Americans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, American Indians and Native Alaskans, and Asians and Pacific Islanders. An introductory summary notes that the educational needs usually result from poverty, cultural or linguistic differences, or high geographic mobility and that the problems point to a further need for parent education and participation. Each paper explains a minority group's social or historical situation, outlines educational problems, and examines programs to assist the group. The papers include "Asian and Pacific Americans: An Educational Challenge," by Siri Vongthieres and Lawrence A. Egan; "The Educational Needs of Black Children," by Andrew Billingsley; "A Report on the Cuban Students in the Dade County Public Schools, Miami, Florida," by Rosa Guas Inclan; "The State of Indian Education," by Lee Antell; "A Legacy of Four Cultures: Education and the Mexican Americans," by Vicente Z. Serrano; and "Puerto Ricans and the Public Schools: A Critical Commentary," by Tony Baez. Five appendices add statistical data for several of the papers. (Author/RW)