Many English language learners (ELL) struggle to function in English-only classes and to compete with their native English-speaking peers, and tend not to fare well on high-stakes testing. One such example is the Vietnamese American students at City Middle School whose reading levels ranged from an alarming 1.5 to 4 (mid-year first grade to fourth…

This research anthology is the fifth volume in a series sponsored by the Special Interest Group-Research on the Education of Asian and Pacific Americans (SIG-REAPA) of the American Educational Research Association and National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education. This series explores and examines the patterns of Asian parents'…

Similar to other Asian American students, Southeast Asian American students are often stereotyped by the popular press as hardworking and high-achieving model minorities. On the other hand, Southeast Asian American youth are also depicted as low-achieving high school dropouts involved in gangs. The realities of academic performance and persistence…

Through the ethnographic methodological tools of formal and informal interviews, observations, participation in coplanning sessions, and analysis of literacy curricula, the researchers of this study found that effective teachers are finding ways to work successfully within the current political climate influenced by No Child Left Behind and the…

In some research involving Asian Americans generalizability is questionable because the group under study is composed of persons from many cultural traditions. This study looked at 2,511 4th to 11th grade American students of Asian descent all of whom were members of one of the following Asian groups: (1) Chinese; (2) Filipino; (3) Japanese; (4)…

It is well-established that the effects of poverty are devastating for children in school. More generally, scholars have documented that low "socio-economic status" (SES), whether measured by family income, parent education, or parent occupation, is usually the most powerful predictor of achievement and test score performance, sometimes swamping…

This paper is based on a study conducted among Asian American students, most of them Vietnamese refugees, at the University of Minnesota between 1980 and 1982. The study focused on the academic performance of students affiliated with the Office of Minority and Special Student Affairs (OMSSA) program, and examined some of the factors that may have…

Upon arrival in the United States, the Southeast Asian "Boat People" faced a multitude of problems that would seem to have hindered their achieving economic self-sufficiency. Nonetheless, by the time of a 1982 research study which interviewed nearly 1,400 refugee households, 25 percent of all the households in the sample had achieved…

Social-capital explanations of school outcomes, particularly of the school outcomes of immigrant children and children of immigrants, have come into wide use in recent years. These explanations attempt to account for individual or group variations in school performance by viewing the family and community relations that surround children as forms…

A study was designed to investigate the nature of language proficiency and its cross-lingual dimensions. The focus of the study was on the interdependence hypothesis, that older immigrant students whose first language (L1) cognitive/academic proficiency is better developed on arrival in Canada will acquire English cognitive/academic skills more…

In 1984-1985, the final year of funding, Project BACIS provided instructional, resource, and supportive assistance to three different populations of recent immigrants from Cambodia, Haiti, and Vietnam at three high schools in New York City: Christopher Columbus (Bronx), Samual J. Tilden (Brooklyn), and Walton High School (Bronx). At each site the…

This report assesses both the process and outcomes of resettling Vietnamese Amerasians in the United States, particularly in the areas of education, employment, housing, and health care. The report also examines the factors that have been helpful or harmful to the successful resettlement of Amerasians. Findings show that, despite many networks and…

A study was conducted concerning how Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, and Hmong refugees between the ages of 15 and 18 have faced the difficulties of adjusting to life in the United States. The study looked at some of the reasons behind the difficulties these youth experience, as well as their success at school, within the family, and in society.…

This monograph examines the current state of Vietnamese America, summarizing research findings on Vietnamese children, both those who are native born and those born in Vietnam and raised in the United States. It provides insight into the unique experience of these children in order to help educators, administrators, and social workers deal…

A symposium compared the nature and experiences of schooling for Aboriginal Australians and Vietnamese immigrants to Australia. An introduction draws on John Ogbu's distinction between voluntary and involuntary minorities, provides background on the situations of indigenous peoples and Vietnamese immigrants in Australia, and suggests that cultural…