Between 1975 and 1979 the Alaskan Native suicide rate (90.9 per 100,000) in Northwest Alaska was more than seven times the national average. Alienation, loss of family, low income, alcohol abuse, high unemployment, and more education were factors related to suicidal behavior. Average age for suicidal behavior was 22.5. (Author/MH)

Examines family encouragement and selected background variables influencing Mexican American female academic achievement at a large southwestern university. Results revealed that students with a positive view of their academic ability combined with a strong sense of personal responsibility for their academic future were likely to be academically…

This literature review discusses factors affecting women's participation and achievement in formal education systems in the Third World and factors contributing to gender inequalities in education. Cultural, social, and economic factors are identified; and recommendations for the expansion and improvement research are made. (TJH)

Suggests that Dunn's genetic explanation for low Hispanic academic achievement is flawed, racist, and scientifically unfounded. Reviews historical efforts to suppress foreign language use and instruction in the United States. Calls for a reexamination of the implications of IQ test results in light of socioeconomic and cultural differences.…

Reviews criticism of Dunn's monograph on Hispanic-Anglo differences in IQ scores. Discusses the heritability and malleability of IQ, the reciprocal relationship between achievement and intelligence, negative effects of schooling for some caste-like minorities, and superior cognitive skills among balanced bilingual students. Contains 19 references.…

Reports on a study of student academic performance among 1,314 first-year business students at a technical university in Singapore. Concludes that older students, students with prior economic course experience, male students, and ethnic Chinese students performed better than their counterparts. (CFR)

Supports teaching multicultural literacy for effective citizenship in a world composed of diverse cultures, races, and groups. Discusses paradigms in multicultural education; the importance of culture in multicultural literacy; and other key concepts for teaching multicultural literacy. (NL)

This ethnography explores teachers' perspectives of the cultural issues affecting academic performance in twelve public high schools in rural Mississippi and Louisiana. From a thematic analysis of the tape-recorded interviews of forty-one mathematics teachers, five categories emerged, each comprising a qualitative aspect of teaching high school in…

Biased assessment instruments and practices can lead to over-representation of minority children in special education classes. This paper analyzes the amount of variance in Mexican-American achievement test scores attributable to sociocultural factors. Fifty learning disabled Mexican-American elementary school students completed the Peabody…

This study of the Polish-American community in the Greater Boston area has a threefold purpose: (1) it attempts to provide a socio-historical outline of the group's structural position and cultural characteristics; (2) it analyzes the influence of selected factors such as generational positioning, educational status, and place of residence on…

THE FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS, PEER RELATIONS, PERSONAL VALUES, AND ATTITUDES WHICH DISTINGUISH BETTER FROM POORER READERS, AND TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS RELATED TO IMPROVEMENT OR DECLINE IN READING ABILITY BETWEEN THIRD AND SIXTH GRADE TESTING POINTS, WERE INVESTIGATED. INTERVIEWS WERE CONDUCTED WITH 705 6TH, 8TH, 10TH AND 12TH GRADE STUDENTS WHO WERE…

The role of testing has received a great deal of criticism over the years. Some steps have been taken to develop more universal items into the test. One innovation was the introduction of the multiple choice exam. Yet even with this type of aptitude test, the majority of questions and plausible answers have become quite involved and intense. All…

The author offers support for viewing the deaf child as a member of a linguistic minority and considers how this situation affects education of the deaf. Deaf persons are discussed in terms of their intellectual abilities, educational achievement, English competence, and the sociolinguistic factors which point to the existence of a deaf community.…

Literature pertaining to research done on academic achievement of Mexican American students is reviewed in this paper. The literature deals with such variables as socioeconomic, physical, psychological, and cultural aspects; language factors; attitudes; language development; and environment. A 15-page discussion of recommendations for improving…

Contrary to popular opinion, it is very difficult to find any objective evidence of culture bias that could account for social class and racial differences in performance on current standard tests of intelligence, even those like the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), which give the appearance of being highly culture-loaded. They may be…