Observations of Chinese and Filipino middle school and junior high school classes in the San Francisco (California) and Seattle (Washington) areas show that the political and practical realities of the bilingual classroom are far removed from the models favored by bilingual education researchers. The typical APA (Asian Pacific American)…

Examines the current status of cultural diversity in middle school education theory, suggests some developmental characteristics of young adolescents of color that are often overlooked, and proposes some ways that middle school education could be modified to be more responsive to the ethnic and cultural diversity of early adolescents. (SM)