This book describes the outcomes of a comparative study that brought together an international team of researchers from eight countries (United States, Scotland, New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands, Ireland, Australia, and England). The purpose of the study was to develop case studies that would explore the process of inclusion and exclusion…

This paper explores two questions: (1) Do private schools produce greater academic achievement or attainment than public schools? and (2) Does this evidence provide guidance on the potential impact of voucher plans? Based on recent experimental evidence, it finds that Catholic elementary schools have modest effects on the mathematics achievement…

Reviews an ethnographic analysis of Teach for America, a 1990 educational reform program that illustrates how underlying assumptions about "marginal" urban and rural students and their "deficient" environments solidify existing power structures, acculturate students to middle-class norms, generate resistance to teachers, and…

The problem is well known to every parent of a teenager, every high school teacher, every clinical practitioner, and every social policy maker: vulnerable adolescents risk becoming more deviant through association with deviant peers and peer groups. Deviant peer influences are among the most potent factors in the development of antisocial…

Noting that the collective stories of special education have grown out of a tradition that, by its nature tends to perpetuate problems, this book examines such narratives and how they influence thinking and belief about intelligence and learning. It begins by examining how the current story of intelligence developed and illustrates some of the…

The differences between Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I program evaluation and minimum competency testing (MCT) are compared. Title I programs are characterized as follows: the objective is to supplement school experiences for economically educational programs emphasize reading and mathematics; supplementary instruction is provided by…

Chinese Americans have been called inscrutable--not open to being understood. More casual, spontaneous, and expressive people find it hard to understand the strict discipline of feelings and highly selective and controlled expressions such as the Chinese American may practice. This paper serves as a social introduction to the Chinese American. For…

This booklet, containing monographs on aspects of multiethnic curriculum in the schools, is intended to aid teachers to keep in touch with some of the strategies and criteria in planning and executing multiethnic programs. An article on new curricula for multiethnic schools notes that most of the urban and suburban schools are racially and…

Little is known about the effects of schooling on parents, especially on those with children who struggle in school. Drawing on a series of interviews with parents, this book provides an insider's view of what happens at home when school goes wrong. The stories in this book reveal that school troubles threaten the happiness and self-esteem of…

Describes a followup study to previous research into midcareer educators' tendencies to label older colleagues as resisters to Oregon schools' restructuring efforts. Results show that such attitudes stigmatize individuals and inhibit their responses in ways that hamper the change process. More respect for lifelong professional learning is needed.…

This paper discusses some misconceptions about Asian American elementary school and secondary school students, and describes ways of building effective communication with the families of these students. The essay begins by noting the stereotyping of Asian American students as "whiz kids" and discussing the damaging effect of that…

This study examined social class indicators of Greek migrants to the Federal Republic of Germany and non-migrants since 1960 to test the hypotheses that migrant workers as a majority are a positive select group (as compared to non-migrants of the same place of origin and time period) in terms of characteristics relevant to educational success and…

Faults of special education include its medical view of disability, its arbitrary division of students into handicapped and nonhandicapped, and the resultant separation between general and special education. Disabled adults are becoming less tolerant of an educational system that fails to recognize the capabilities of handicapped students.…

Acts and characteristics of teachers of American Indian students which may influence the dynamics of the self-fulfilling prophecy were examined. Data were collected via questionnaires and interviews. Questionnaires were sent to 60 student teachers and teacher assistants in schools enrolling Indian students. Some of these schools had almost…

Presenting Chicanas as they are written and spoken of by certain people from within their culture, this paper aimed (1) to acquaint Chicanos and non-Chicanos with a history of struggles for equality and recognition for women within the Mexican/Chicano communities and where those struggles are manifested in today's Chicanas; (2) to direct those who…