The goal theory of achievement argues that the goals stressed by schools have dramatic consequences for whether children develop a sense of self-efficacy, or whether they avoid challenging tasks, giving up when faced with failure. It is commonly believed that the goals stressed by Western-oriented schools are inappropriate to indigenous minority…

Parents face many concerns in raising their children today, none more profound than their children's education. This book provides a "road map" for parents to take a proactive and central role in their children's learning. The book's prologue notes that effective leadership is crucial to pupil learning, and provides an introductory sketch of this…

Although Mexican Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, their history and literature are seldom taught in American classrooms. A study of over 3,000 high school sophomores in the Southwest revealed that neither Anglos nor Hispanics were aware of the contributions of Mexican Americans. Incorporating Mexican American…

In professional development schools (PDSs), personnel from two different cultures come together to form a new, hybrid culture. Sharing the same goals and parity among the participating professionals produce authentic collaboration and are essential aspects of this culture. When parity and sharing are absent, collaboration between schools and…

This book focuses on enabling and empowering women in higher education, and it draws both on research and experience with women-centered teaching and learning practices and professional development and training of women staff. The first section of the book concentrates on women students in higher education. Chapters include: "Women Students and…

"Our Town: An Architectural Perspective" is a program for at-risk elementary school children which was instituted at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). The goal of this effort was to introduce built-environment awareness in the public schools, where the neighborhood serves as the classroom and as a vehicle for…

This qualitative study attempted to answer the question of what constitutes a collegial environment. New faculty members (N=258) at five institutions were surveyed and 92 new faculty were interviewed. The study utilized a methodology of quantifying data from interviews, the Rasch analytic technique, in which the definition of collegiality was…

This parent guide addresses common parent concerns about middle schools, focusing on the Long Beach (California) Unified School District. It provides a quick reference to different aspects of the child's middle school education and encourages parent involvement. Sections describe how parents can make a difference for the child in the home and in…

This paper explores the use of ethnographic biography as a source of information and reflection for student teachers. Ethnographic methods combine observation of a subject's teaching environment or context, examining the present rather than the past. Information can then be made available to student teachers in need of a personal viewpoint on…

This study examines the education and employment outcomes of black youth whose families moved from mostly-black housing projects in the city to either mostly-white suburbs or other mostly-black urban areas through the Gautreaux Housing Assistance Program in the Chicago (Illinois) area. In interviews with families who had moved 8 to 13 years…

This study describes characteristics of reflective practical teaching, interprets the value of intellectualizing teaching by teachers, and summarizes a successful teaching/learning research process in the context of a large urban school in Spain. Data were gathered through review of curriculum documents and observations, interviews, and written…

The position statement of the Wisconsin Association of Foreign Language Teachers (WAFLT) task force on middle school foreign languages outlines its philosophy for development and administration of second language programs and instruction to meet the special characteristics and social and educational needs of middle school students. The report…

Progress in civil rights for black Americans does not appear to have been matched, at least in recent years, by equal progress in social harmony. It is argued that a considerable part of present racial difficulties are the result of commonly expressed understandings that are deeply flawed and that these flaws can be corrected only if social…

This study examined whether and how an institution of higher education's emphasis on diversity affects students of color differently from white students. Data, which were drawn from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, involved 15,600 students who were freshmen in 1985 and were followed up in 1989 and who identified themselves as…

Focusing on community college programs designed to achieve multicultural climates and minority student success, this monograph provides profiles from documents in the ERIC database of such programs established in the 1990s by individual colleges or developed in partnerships with community, business, or other educational institutions. Introductory…