Although the Southeast Asian refugees are regularly referred to only as Vietnamese, many are Cambodians, people different from the Vietnamese. It is true that Asian people have much more in common with one another than they have in common with non-Asians. While there are many attitudes and manners which Vietnamese and Cambodians share resulting…

Ascertains the dental health needs of the following refugee groups in Fresno County, California: (1) Cambodians; (2) lowland Lao; and (3) Hmong. Discusses successful health marketing and educational strategies aimed at these groups. A Dental Screening program instructed community health specialists, provided dental health education, and performed…

Explores in-group variation in minority educational achievement by studying why a disproportionately high number of young Khmer women drop out of school in the United States. An ethnographic study (over 125 interviews) in metropolitan Boston (Massachusetts) demonstrates the importance of understanding cultural and social-historical influences on…

This study evaluated the adaptation and adjustment processes of 28 Khmer children (aged 10 to 15 years) in the Boston (Massachusetts) area in a summer school setting provided by the Metropolitan Indochinese Children and Adolescent Services (MICAS). Using the Children's Acculturation Problem Index and the Children's Alienation Scale, supplemented…

Assessed the attitudes of 359 immigrant and native-born American parents of kindergarten through second-grade children about child rearing, education, and intelligence and their children's school performance. Found that parents' beliefs about conformity were negatively related to their children's school performance. (MDM)

The Immigrant and Refugee Planning Center conducted a survey to determine the progress of Indochinese refugee resettlement in Orange County, California, in 1983-84 and to compare it with that reported in a similar survey conducted in 1981. As in 1981, the results of interviews with employers, residents, and refugees were compiled in four critical…

The project described in this article investigates student explanations of truancy and dropout, and associated demographic and academic variables among Cambodian students (N=23) at a comprehensive high school. Results suggest that students at high risk of truancy can be identified before they start high school on the basis of their behavior in…

Massachusetts passed the first state legislation mandating bilingual education in 1971, the Transitional Bilingual Education Bill (TBE). This publication contains five case studies that demonstrate how teachers and schools have responded to the needs of their minority group students. The first case study, "Bilingual Education in a Bilingual…

This paper is a preliminary attempt to identify important gaps in instructional materials for Southeast Asian languages. The need for instructional materials is detailed for: Burmese, Cambodian, Indonesian/Malay, Lao, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese. Attention is drawn particularly to the need for integrated audiovisual materials, materials on…

Past research on academic achievement has tended to overlook the diversity among Asian American groups and the educational and socioeconomic difficulties that many Asians, particularly Southeast Asians, face. The present study addressed several shortcomings of past research by contrasting parent attachment and discipline, peer delinquency, and…

Based on a long-term comparative ethnographic study in two Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) public schools, the study reported here describes what two teachers do to create successful learning contexts for the biliterate development of linguistic minority children in their classes. Two classrooms situated in contrasting community, program, and language…

Project CLASS, a collaborative family literacy demonstration research project designed to meet the language and literacy needs of limited English proficient families in Clayton County, Georgia, is described. Intergenerational and age-graded classes were provided for Cambodian, Laotian, Vietnamese, and Hispanic adult family members, their…

This study investigates the self-concept of 37 Cambodian children who have recently resettled in Richmond (Virginia) after experiencing war, turmoil, and refugee camp life in Southeast Asia. The study group consisted of 19 Cambodian males and 17 Cambodian females, whose ages ranged from 5 to 14 years. About 17 percent of the respondents were in…

This report describes and analyzes the current employment and educational pursuits of Southeast Asian (SEA) youth in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, community. The report provides information on the following: (1) demography, residential patterns, and composition of the Philadelphia SEA Refugee Community; (2) role of ethnic identity among the SEA…

This report is a comparative study, conducted in 1986-87 in San Diego, California, of the adaptation of refugee youth from Vietnam, Cambodia, Indochina, and Laos. The project examined both successes and problems of these refugee youth regarding their educational and occupational attainments and aspirations, and evaluated their prospects for…