More than one-fifth of the nation's public school students are Latino. By 2025, the share of Latino children is projected to increase to nearly 3 in 10 school-age children (Fry & Passel, 2009). The fast-growing Latino student population will shape the nation's future, so it is critical that these students are well-prepared for college, careers, and civic participation. This brief looks at the performance of Latino students on state reading and mathematics tests and considers the policy implications of achievement trends for this group. Part 1 summarizes key results for Latino students on the state tests used for accountability under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Included in the review are trends since 2002 in the percentages of Latino students reaching various achievement levels on state tests and in the Latino-white achievement gap; and various analyses of 2008 state test results for Latino students and other racial/ethnic groups. The information in part 1 is drawn from an immense set of test data from all 50 states that was gathered by the Center on Education Policy (CEP) with technical support from the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) and was verified by state officials. For the past three years, CEP has used these data to do an on going study of state test score trends. Part 2 of this brief considers policies that could be undertaken at the local, state, and federal level to improve achievement for Latino students. The authors arrived at these findings after reviewing studies by other researchers about possible factors underlying the Latino-white achievement gap and possible strategies to address this gap. Tables showing the 2008 percentages proficient in reading and math at grades 4, 8, and high school for the major racial/ethnic subgroups in each of the 50 states are appended. (Contains 6 tables and 4 footnotes.) [This policy brief was written with assistance from Victor Chudowsky, Naomi Chudowsky, and Shelby Dietz. For "Policy Brief #2: Asian American Students," see ED513298.]