This digest discusses the problem of overrepresentation of children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in special education and provides examples of strategies created by researchers and practitioners to reduce overrepresentation. Strategies include: (1) promote family involvement and respect diverse backgrounds by taking time…

This study investigated the effectiveness of a performance-based assessment (DISCOVER (Discovering Intellectual Strengths and Capabilities through Observation while allowing for Varied Ethnic Responses)) in identifying gifted minority middle school students. Research questions focused on examining the alignment between DISCOVER and Gardner's…

This brief paper summarizes information collected from state education agencies concerning: (1) state-level special education data collected by gender; and (2) gender and special education issues identified as concerns. A section on the study's background notes that about two-thirds of students receiving special education services are boys,…

A study involving 12 elementary schools investigated hiring and placement decisions of school district-level personnel and principals. Findings indicate inequities in the quality of leadership and instruction in the inner-city schools exacerbate efforts to reduce disproportionate placements of culturally and linguistically diverse children into…

This study determined prevalence and outcome data on parents with disabilities and their children in statutory child-protection proceedings in New South Wales (Australia). Parents with disabilities (usually psychiatric or intellectual) featured in almost one-third of the cases. Court outcomes indicated a disproportionately large number of children…

A study of Duke University's administrators examined men's and women's career experiences, behaviors, and attitudes as a means of understanding the disproportionate representation of men and women at different administrative ranks. Some encouraging and some discouraging trends were found. (MSE)

Discusses how cross-gender misunderstanding can affect the educational process and can result in boys being mislabeled as emotionally and/or behaviorally disordered for displaying strong traditional male behavioral patterns. The tendency for boys to challenge authority and to display aggression is examined, along with the overrepresentation of…

Concern has grown over the overrepresentation of African American male students in special education classes. This article highlights this problem and illustrates the use of a solution-focused approach to early intervention with African American young men who are at risk of being placed in special education. (Author)

Efforts to expand diversity in the health professions has received a boost from a prominent member of Congress. U.S. Senator Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, recently introduced a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act as part of a comprehensive initiative to improve the health of minority and other underserved populations. This bill, which is being…

This investigation explores how underrepresented urban students made sense of their first experience with high school science. The study sought to identify how students' assimilation into the science classroom reflected their interpretation of science itself in relation to their academic identities. The primary objectives were to examine students'…

This article presents research on female teachers exploring their perceptions and experiences of male teachers in the early years and it also examines the views of male teachers in relation to this environment. It considers the dominant UK public discourse calling for more men in primary teaching and it shows how this affects both male and female…

In a recent article in this journal, Naglieri and Ford (2003) claimed that Black and Hispanic students are as likely to earn high scores on the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT; Naglieri, 1997a) as White students. However, the sample that Naglieri and Ford used was not representative of the U.S. school population as a whole and was quite…

This article, focuses on the experiences of two Ivy League graduates to examine the notion of transformational resistance. Combining data from a two-year ethnographic study with follow-up interviews over a decade, the author analyzes how students acquired skills and credentials that enabled them to serve their tribal communities. Strategies of…

This study set out to test the major criticisms of Burton Clark's book "Creating Entrepreneurial Universities: organisational pathways of transformation" (1998). Both Deem (2001) and Smith (1999) criticise Clark on the grounds that he interviewed only a selection of senior staff in the institutions he surveyed and, hence, did not get a…

The importance of identifying and nurturing the gifts and talents of young people is now more widely accepted in New Zealand than it has been in the past. In this country the approach to meeting this challenge must reflect an understanding and acknowledgement of Maori conceptions of giftedness and talent. It is proposed here that the…