Gay youth and those questioning their sexual identity have been referred to as "hidden," "invisible," "stigmatized," and "marginalized." As a result, the unique safety and health needs of this subculture have been overlooked, or worse, ignored, placing these youth at risk. Because school nurses have been identifying at-risk populations of students…

In an effort to improve our nation's underperforming schools, education reformers are designing programs to educate and empower urban school parents. Parent involvement can be critical to a child's academic success, yet the education community still knows very little about the impact of specific parent programs. We evaluated a parent program that…

While the debate over the optimal age for second language (L2) acquisition continues into the 21st century--that is, whether or not there is a clearly established critical period beyond which L2 learning cannot take place--most people believe (rightly or wrongly) that "earlier is better." In this article, the authors begin with the premise that…

As America's public school population becomes more diverse, selecting culturally appropriate instructional materials becomes increasingly important. Though several existing scales assess the quality of curricula materials, most do not consider cultural relevance. The Curricula Appropriateness Scale (CAS) was designed to determine the…

This paper reports on the findings of a four-year study that seeks to understand the experiences and career pathways of Indigenous teachers in Australia. We present data obtained from in-depth interviews with current and former teachers in order to provide a qualitative account of what lies behind demographic trends in Indigenous teacher…

This essay explores the suburban mythos that dominates the pedagogical scene of public-communication instruction. This scene both narrows the civic meaning of citizenship and constructs an unproblematic environment of professional acceptance. In doing so, it removes any serious discussion of the world of conflicted interests. As a remedy, this…

It is imperative that school counselors become actively engaged in promoting school success for all students. For youth from low-income and diverse backgrounds, future career opportunities are predicated on achieving educational success. Therefore, school counselors become agents for social justice when creating, implementing, and supporting…

This book presents a collection of classroom practices that view the personal experiences of diverse student populations as valuable resources for instruction. It offers teachers various responses to the challenges posed by students' cultural, linguistic, and social group affiliations. The book contains essays arranged into three interwoven…

Historical views about individuals and communities shape the ways that researchers interact with people and their communities. The European settlers thought of Native Americans as savages in need of socialization. Accordingly, the first researchers had little concern for the needs of Native people and their communities and sought to impose Western…

These proceedings from a conference on the health needs of Asian and Pacific American (APA) children include discussions and recommendations from each breakout session. The breakout sessions focused on trends and services; K-12 education; health and mental health; child abuse and neglect services; bias crime and violence; and poverty and welfare…

Begun in 1993, a 5-year project examined treatment modalities and outcomes and counselor and client attitudes related to American Indian or Alaska Native vocational rehabilitation (VR) clients with alcoholism or substance abuse problems. Specifically, surveys and focus groups examined elements of successful substance abuse treatment and VR…

Diversity of geography, climate, and culture dictate the nature of the service delivery systems in Alaska, including the provision of prevention programming in substance abuse, alcoholism, health, and behavioral health. Described here are training programs, conferences and symposia, health fairs, and culturally derived interventions that meet the…

School-based drug abuse prevention programs have been a standard approach in American Indian communities for three decades, but the evidence for their effectiveness is meager. However, it is unreasonable to expect that schools alone could have a major impact on a behavior that has multiple and interactive social causes. It would be folly to…

Discusses multilingual resources for children--books in languages other than English as well as dual language books written in both heritage languages and English for immigrants. Focuses on the challenges dual language books present for translators, emphasizing that publishers' insensitivity has often resulted in inadequate translations. (10…

Reports on the design and implementation of a successful health promotion intervention for older, low-income African Americans in three Georgia communities. The program included culturally sensitive health promotion training to increase participation, a grassroots network to disseminate health education materials, and indigenous older lay…