In November of 2005, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers gathered at a national invitational conference in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the Laboratory for Student Success. The event took place just blocks away from the Capitol Rotunda where, days before, Rosa Parks' body laid in state as the nation mourned her passing. The conference…

Are magnet schools in a position to meet diversity ideals? As districts are declared unitary and released from court ordered desegregation, many are framing their commitments to fairness and equity in terms of diversity--i.e., comparable rates of participation and comparable educational outcomes in all segments the student population. In this…

This book provides practicing school counselors and their colleagues in related professions with direction for developing, implementing, and evaluating counseling programs for culturally diverse student groups. It also serves as a useful methods textbook for counselor training. Intervention strategies and counseling techniques are presented in the…

The district dropout rate for the Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) for school year 1986-87 was 8.03 percent. Because the New Mexico State Department of Education changed the categories for reporting the reason why a student dropped out, it is difficult to compare this figure to the 1985-86 rate. At the end of every school year the State Department…

The university eligibility of African American and Latino high school graduates in California has increased significantly in recent years. The Commission's most recent eligibility study showed that the percentage of African American high school graduates who met the minimum admission requirements of the University of California more than doubled…

This report uses a newly defined version of the Greene Method to calculate graduation rates for the public school class of 2000, comparing results to those of 1998. It calculates state and national figures using data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data. The 2000 national graduation rate was 69 percent (76…

A gap in standardized achievement-test scores among different groups of students has existed since the inception of standardized testing. The gap between white and African-American schoolchildren was the primary impetus behind much of the social policy devoted to desegregating schools in the second half of the past century. Through a combination…

Undergraduate students (N=1,271) from a consortium of small private colleges in California, a mid-size university in California, a large public university in Texas, and a large commuter university in Illinois were surveyed on their experience with ethnic and racial hatred. Based upon self-report, 54.3% of the sample were European American, 18%…

This book examines the interactions of Mexican and Chinese immigrant students with other students from the same country (co-nationals) and their exchanges of information about experiences in U.S. schools. Research focused on 74 Chinese and 78 Mexican immigrant students, aged 11-17, in Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area, who received…

Reports racial/ethnic differences in the use of licit and illicit drugs by high school seniors in the United States. Finds relatively low levels of drug use by most non-White youth, especially Black Americans and Asian Americans. Such subgroup differences are not primarily attributable to family or regional influences. (AF)

This chapter presents an overview of the demographic shifts occurring in the United States and discusses the associated rapid increase in the number of community college students from diverse racial backgrounds. Profiles of two community colleges offer examples of timely responses to emerging majority students' academic, economic, and social…

Although the SAT has traditionally been the standardized test of choice for Texas students, nearly a third of the college-bound population in 1998 opted to take the ACT in addition to the SAT. Because most universities now accept both the SAT and the ACT, many testing experts believe taking both exams is a growing trend due to increased pressure…

An important predictor of whether students remain in school or withdraw is their ability to identify with academics. Consistent with Ogbu's (1992) cultural inversion and Steele's (1992) stereotype threat hypotheses, research has shown that Black and Hispanic students tend to demonstrate higher levels of academic disidentification relative to Asian…

A main goal of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is to close gaps in test scores between different groups of students while raising achievement for all groups. Of particular concern are the persistent achievement gaps between African American, Latino, and Native American students and their white and Asian counterparts, and between students from…

This year the Center on Education Policy (CEP) analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps…