In the last decade, the rates of enrollment and retention of many students of color have declined. Access and completion rates for African American, Hispanic, and Native American students have always lagged behind white and Asian students, as have those for low-income students and students with disabilities. Because students of color often make up…

During the past decade, there has been a simultaneous decline in the number of African American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American teachers and an increase in the number of students among these same groups of minorities (referenced in this text as people of color). An array of topics relative to this decline were explored as the subject of a…

This digest focuses on the data that show significant disparities between the number of teachers of color and the number of students of color and examines how well schools, colleges, and departments of education are doing in supplying teachers of color for U.S. classrooms. The document is organized into three sections. The first section discusses…

Several definitions of giftedness have been used to identify culturally different gifted children. Traditional notions of giftedness have focused on high degrees of intellectual ability, special talent, or innate ability in a particular area. A more liberal definition would include any children identified by professionally qualified persons who,…

The report, based on a conference presentation on the exceptional Black child, includes two papers on potentially gifted and talented Black students. The first, "The Identification and Assessment of Black Gifted/Talented Children in Washington, D.C. Public Schools," (P. Blackshear), traces the evolution of the identification effort over a three…

This Digest describes factors that may restrict access to adult literacy education in North America and discusses several potential solutions to these problems from programs that have aimed to provide adult literacy instruction to specific minority groups. Although the barriers and potential solutions apply to all minority groups, two populations…

This document contains fact sheets on four contemporary issues related to young people, (1) teenage pregnancy, (2) juvenile delinquency, (3) youth tutoring of youth, and (4) youth advocacy. The sheet on teenage pregnancy presents statistics on the teenage birth rate, discusses financial and educational problems faced by teenage parents, and…

Urban areas are the sites of many smoking prevention strategies targeting special populations. This digest provides an overview of these initiatives. Adolescents smoke for the same reasons that they use alcohol and other drugs. Personal factors that contribute to risk are enhanced by tobacco company advertising that makes smoking seem attractive.…

The reform of elementary and secondary school mathematics education in the United States has received renewed attention with the publication of several mathematics reform documents and the 1989 Education Summit sponsored by the nation's governors and President Bush. This digest lists documents and programs in four areas: (1) curriculum and…

The CRitical Issue Bibliography (CRIB) Sheet describes resources on collaborative learning. It has been argued that this form of teaching and learning is more effective with women, minorities, and some other audiences that have been considered nontraditional. The first section of this CRIB Sheet includes general resources on collaborative…

This publication is an outcome of a conference sponsored by Emory University's Center for Urban Learning/Teaching and Urban Research in Education and Schools. The essays included in the volume address how to build schools and educate youth in ways which honor, build on, and involve all students and citizens, and the importance of preparing…

Questions are addressed that focus on why lower class and minority group test takers score lower on standardized tests than their middle class Anglo counterparts. The questions include the following: (1) In what ways can dialect differences affect testing? (2) How can dialect differences directly affect a test of language? (3) Shouldn't standard…

Institutions of higher education have attempted to diversify their faculty by recruiting women and minorities. However, recruitment has taken place without an understanding of the social forces that shape the professional socialization and workplace satisfaction of women and minority faculty. Conclusions drawn by the author about the plight of…

The need to recruit more minority teachers for urban schools is acute. Although enrollment in teacher preparation programs has increased, few of these future teachers intend to teach in urban schools where they are most needed. Ninety-five percent of prospective secondary school teachers come from suburban, rural, or small town backgrounds, and…

It is pointed out in this Digest that there is an imbalance between the number of Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American teachers and the percentage of children of similar ethnic backgrounds in the schools. The growing minority student enrollment in public schools has increased the demand for proportional minority teacher representation.…