The report describes an ethnographic study of a New York City (New York) middle school that focused on the school as a setting for cultural interchange. The relatively small school has an ethnically and culturally diverse student body that strives to build a strong feeling of community. The study looked at ways in which the school attends to…

The responses of African American college students to the campus environment at a large Texas university were studied through interviews that focused on student adjustment to the college environment and the university's response to students of color. Many studies have documented that black students are affected by the perception of discrimination…

A sense of school belonging has been theorized to be crucial to a childs positive school adjustment and may contribute to their future mental health. The present study investigated the relationship between sources of social support as measured by Harters Social Support Scale for Children and Goodenows Psychological Sense of School Membership. The…

Black students' academic success in college is affected by social and academic adjustment, negative stereotypes, and lack of financial resources. Necessary conditions for academic excellence are student involvement, high expectations, evaluation and feedback, and a creative learning environment. (SK)

This article reports the findings of an in-depth qualitative case study that explored the ways in which Chinese-speaking international students adapt to a western learning environment, and the effect that the teaching context has upon student learning. The study explored this effect by investigating a critical thinking task from the perspectives…

The transition from middle school to high school represents a significant event in the lives of adolescents, one that necessitates support from and collaboration among teachers, parents, counselors, and administrators at both educational levels. Successful transitions place particular emphasis on ninth-grade initiatives and can create one of…

Students making the transition into middle or high school face challenges that may derail their school careers. Schools can do a better job of preparing students for the challenges ahead. In this article, the authors review the developmental needs and challenges of young adolescents and the concerns that they and their parents have about moving…

With over 35,000 asylum-seeking and refugee children in British schools, British policy has become increasingly restrictive toward refugees. Some of the successful initiatives for the proper integration of these children, along with effective provisions, are detailed in this collection of articles. This book, which is intended for teachers,…

This paper discusses two types of adjustments that foreign students face when they encounter university culture in the United States. The central section lists and describes four key groups of underlying principles, values, and practices in American education and discusses the reasons why these may be difficult for foreign students to understand.…

This 31-item test bibliography lists currently available measures of attitudes toward school and school adjustment. The construct--attitudes toward school--encompasses pupils' attitudes toward themselves as learners, learning as a process, the school environment or classroom situation, specific school subjects, and teachers. In addition, the…

This 53-item test bibliography lists currently available measures of attitudes toward school and school adjustment. The construct--attitudes toward school--encompasses pupils' attitudes toward themselves as learners, learning as a process, the school environment or classroom situation, specific school subject, and teachers. In addition, the…

Children today come to school with problems that are markedly different from those of only a generation ago. Because school is such a large part of a child's life, the school experience is a highly significant factor in the child's life-stress situation. Unfortunately, many of the current practices in the school, far from helping children to cope,…

The physical, instructional, and attitudinal aspects of the learning environment in the West Indies are described, with emphasis on the problems West Indian students and their teachers must surmount in Canadian schools. (PMJ)

This study of 182 English school children examined three issues: possible changes in self-concept resulting from transfer from primary to secondary schools; possible relationship between self-concept and attitude toward school; and possible differences in school attitudes between high and low self-concept students. (Author/SJL)

Discusses the following barriers to adult learning: (1) motivation is dependent on usefulness of material; (2) ideas and values are fully formed and resistent to challenge; (3) students develop a negative self-image; and (4) students experience reentry shock and infantilization. Discusses an orientation course involving critical thinking designed…