In pursuing the priority of offering all students an equitable and excellent education, the Clinton administration has focused the nation on an urgent imperative: High standards for all students must be set and achieved. This imperative presents a difficult challenge and an enormous opportunity for chronically disadvantaged students, particularly Hispanic students and limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. The strategies in this booklet aim at meeting the unique educational needs of Hispanic and LEP students in the context of high standards and achievement and respond to recommendations proposed by the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, the Hispanic Dropout Project, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Following an overview of the educational status of Hispanic and LEP learners, the booklet sets out a plan for educational improvement structured around five goals: (1) maintain and refine programs that boost Hispanic and LEP students' achievement and lower the Hispanic dropout rate; (2) ensure a program of ongoing, empirical data collection and research targeting Hispanic and LEP students' educational needs; (3) build the capacity of teaching professionals; (4) support efforts to increase the Hispanic community's access to higher education and lifelong learning; and (5) create accountability systems to monitor the progress of Hispanic and LEP students. With each goal is an outline of the Department's current improvement efforts and their direct impacts, followed by new initiatives and their projected impacts. A final section lists outreach activities related to the five goals. (SV)