Investigates factors, including heredity and culture, contributing to exceptional Asian American academic achievement. Proposes the concept of relative functionalism, under which Asian Americans perceive and have experienced restrictions in upward mobility in occupations unrelated to education. Consequently, educational achievement assumes…

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), the authors investigate whether four groups of Asian Americans (Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and South East Asian) show comparable scores on variables that past studies have found to be related to academic achievement and whether these variables similarly predict academic…

Describes the economic and educational achievements of Asian American immigrants to the United States. Criticizes current theories of the causes of Asian American achievement, and posits that family structure, along with middleman and niche theories of migration, may explain their success. (SKC)

An explanation of why Asian American students perform better than others in school may lie in the nature of the learning programs they receive at home. The purpose of this paper is to define such programs that account for most of the differences in academic achievement among racial/ethnic groups. Data were used from the National Education…

The responses of 2,511 Asian American students in grades 4 to 11 in Seattle, Washington, to the Survey of Achievement Responsibility revealed distinctions among Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other Southeast Asian students in attributions to effort or ability. Recommends national origin be defined in studies related to Asian…

Facing mounting evidence that California has fallen behind on many key indicators of educational performance, policymakers and the public share considerable interest in exploring whether California should expand public funding for preschool education. This expanded funding will be most effective if resources can be directed to their most efficient…

Southeast Asian refugee youth in the United States must contend with significant cultural differences and long-term adjustment stress. While struggling to develop an adult identity, these adolescents must also work through the trauma of being refugees, adapting to a new culture without relinquishing the heritage fundamental to their development.…

Research has shown that race, social class, and gender influence teacher expectations of student performance. To investigate teacher expectations for the academic performance and future occupational status of white and Asian elementary school children, and the teacher attributions for their performance, 25 white elementary school teachers (23…

Reports on a study of high school students' perceptions about the importance of academic and sociocultural factors to their participation in college level music and the relationship of these factors to the higher education recruitment process. Finds significant differences related to race, years of experience in a musical group, grade level, and…

Contends that increased immigration has posed whether assimilation benefits educational achievement. Reports on a study that evaluates generational status and scholastic performance of immigrants. Concludes that second-generation youth are best positioned to achieve scholastically. (CFR)

A study was done to determine enrollment, persistence and graduation patterns of domestic special action students at the University of California Davis. Special action students are the small portion who are admitted despite not meeting undergraduate eligibility requirements (specific course work, grade point average and standardized test scores)…

The Metropolitan Achievement Test scores for Boston, Massachusetts, have improved from 1987 to 1988, with scores for 8 grades matching or exceeding the 50th percentile as established in 1986. Reading scores improved over the previous year in seven grades. Yet this "good news" provides little information about real reading skills or…

Despite the myth of Asian academic success, there is a distinction between the educational background and academic achievements of immigrant and refugee children from literate, urban, western-influenced backgrounds, and refugee children from pre-literate, rural cultures that are uninfluenced by Western technology and education. This is…

This study examined the possible influence of socioeconomic background and academic preparation of freshmen entering University of California Davis in Fall 1988 on persistence to graduation. Most academic data for the study came from a longitudinal database of undergraduates enrolled at Davis. Socioeconomic background data came from a freshman…

This report compares California with other states in how the problem of low achievement by minority students is being confronted. The severity of the achievement gap is assessed, as well as the steps being taken to close the gap. The topics considered are: (1) the changing demographic profile of racial and ethnic minorities in California;…