Studies the social interactions of two bilingual ethnic minority children during informal work and play settings in a kindergarten program. Finds that their literacy learning is hampered by isolation, the staff's apparent lack of interest in the children's home language and culture, and the staff's unawareness of cultural biases in the testing and…

Explores the important psychosocial factors that affect quality of life of Indo-Americans. Responses from 264 parents and 225 college students to a questionnaire covering sociodemographic background, acculturation, quality of life, intergenerational dynamics, health status, health care utilization, and communication and social participation are…

Assesses differences in academic and athletic motivation levels among white and black student-athletes, and probes two possible causal variables for graduation rates by examining postgraduate expectations of student-athletes and aspects of their social, cultural, and personal orientations. Survey responses from 327 college athletes reveal…

Given the assumption that children learn societal values in schools, textbooks and teaching manuals were reviewed to determine their effects on immigrant and minority-group children. The study was limited in three ways: (1) only primary through eighth-grade materials were reviewed; (2) only the immigration period (1880-1920), the post war period…

The paper introduces a 3-level paradigm for community assessment. First, Raza communities are conceptualized as belonging to three phases--culturally homogeneous, culturally in transition, and culturally heterogeneous. Each phase is determined by the proximity of the cities'"barrios" to the home country (Mexico, Puerto Rico, Central America) and…

This report describes the completed second stage of an investigation and analysis of the state of educational leadership, policy, and organization in northern Canadian schools. It presents and discusses the different perspectives held by constituents with respect to the goals and purposes of schooling, and the curriculum and language of…

A qualitative case study explored the perceptions of 37 urban secondary school students and 12 teachers about their school and community. Teachers and students worked in a landscape characterized as one of "urban abstraction," a term that helps explain the complex and contradictory fabric of current urban life. (SLD)

In spring 1989, 25 community colleges conducted a survey of their English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students to project the need for ESL services at institutional and statewide levels, and to assess students' existing and desired levels of English proficiency, and the time and resources needed to achieve the desired level. In addition, the study…

An alcohol and drug use education program was developed by teachers and administrators in Mora, a small, isolated Hispanic community in northern New Mexico, in cooperation with the town's public health nurses and a University of New Mexico research team. Pre- and posttests were given to 150 students in grades 7-9 in the Mora Public Schools to…

This report contains a series of essays dealing with strategies to reduce isolation in metropolitan areas. Social isolation is defined as that which affects groups or individuals in such a manner as to limit or deny their access to, and to bar their freedom to choose among the options which society offers to a majority of citizens. Two models…

Two studies reporting the results of surveys of minority student perceptions of isolation extant in desegregated school settings in Texas and New Mexico are presented. Study I involved Mexican-American students who were given a 25-item questionnaire concerning their perceived educational environment. Students were asked to what extent each…

In order to examine and understand power relations between international students who speak English as a second language and American students in online discussions in adult and higher education settings, 1002 postings related to discussion topics in two doctoral-level adult education online classes with 45 students 6 of whom were international…

This study examined the influence of racial/ethnic dynamics on the process of social and academic integration. Students of diverse racial/ethnic and academic backgrounds were interviewed throughout their first-year and again at the beginning of their sophomore year about their pre-college and in-college experiences. Results yielded a qualitative…

The people of the Abaco Islands could, but do not, have a meaningful educational system. Although there are many problems inherent in the physical distribution of students, which complicates transportation efforts and contributes to a high student-teacher ratio, the major problem stems from administrative educational policy and fund distribution.…

The Mountain-Plains Task Force on Indian families was established due to the low success rate of Indian enrollees in completing the Mountain-Plains program, a model educational program for the rural disadvantaged population. As a consequence, the task force was proposed to identify program failure factors and to suggest ways of retaining Indian…