The mission of the Peace Corps (PC) is to promote world peace and friendship. This is accomplished through meeting three goals: (1) To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women; (2) To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served; and (3) To help promote a better…

While the national high school graduation rates for culturally and linguistically diverse students have increased in the last five years, less than half of these students transition from high school to postsecondary settings. In this article we share the lessons learned from nearly a decade of college access and career readiness efforts by a…

There is an urgent need for leadership skills when facilitating communication and engendering acceptance and respect among people from culturally different backgrounds, opposing viewpoints, and vastly different experiences. Thus, when facilitating intercultural group dialogs, varying institutions, agencies, and businesses need culturally competent…

Culturally responsive parent-school relationships require educators to consider the cultural practices and understandings of families as a necessary condition of greater academic achievement. The establishment of healthy parent-school relationships is a complex and dynamic process. A school-community overlap, with a priority given to community…

The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), located in western New York, strives to deliver the same quality library services to its students and faculty located across the globe as those living in the Rochester area. In addition to an array of distance courses and online programs, RIT also has international campuses located in Kosovo, Croatia,…

When the U.S. Census Bureau began releasing population reports from the 2010 count, the findings reaffirmed demographers' projections about the nation's rapidly changing racial, ethnic, and economic makeup. African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American populations grew about 30 percent since 2000 and will account for a majority of the…

The Hoover-Dempsey et al. (2005) model of parents' involvement in their children's schools has recently been applied to Latino immigrant families. This article reviews that literature and then describes culturally appropriate strategies for school counselors to work with this population, focusing on (a) teacher and counselor invitations…

February is a natural time to teach students that love involves more than hearts and candy--it also means giving of oneself. According to Terri Kennamer, a third-grade teacher at West Elementary School in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, it is the responsibility of educators to help students recognize that they are citizens of the world. Children have…

First-generation college students (FGS) often straddle different cultures between school and home. Because of this cultural disparity, FGS frequently encounter barriers to academic success and require additional support resources on campus. Simply offering more financial aid does not address the cultural and emotional challenges that these…

When it comes to educational challenges, the nation's 12.1 million Hispanic schoolchildren face plenty: language, poverty, lower-than-average graduation rates for high school and college, and, more recently, a wave of laws targeting illegal immigrants that has made school seem like less of a safe haven for Hispanic students in some states. Yet, as…

Today's communities are diverse in composition, not only ethnically, but also in matters of age, sexual preference, physical and mental ability. However, as different as we all are, there are certain common threads that bind us all together. If libraries are to thrive and serve the whole community, they must respect the differences, but at the…

The final report describes activities of Project First Chance, Interactive Outreach Project, a program to stimulate the development of improvement of educational services to preschool handicapped children and their families. The project was also designed to provide outreach to culturally diverse populations (primarily Navajos) and to programs in…

Educators at two elementary schools in Arlington, Virginia, have designed evening programs to help immigrant parents acclimate to U.S. schooling practices. One school has a program that orients parents and explains teachers' expectations while children learn socialization skills. The other school combines a similar program with parent volunteer…

Points out that successful telephone hotlines for children share several common denominators, including a pro-family philosophy, the use of highly trained volunteers, a sensitivity to cultural and language differences, and other administrative and legal factors. Advocates the establishment of a national children's help line. (BB)

Considers the benefits of incorporating library outreach programs into regular ongoing library services, based on experiences at the Chicago Public Library. Highlights include literacy programs; recognition of cultural diversity, including special services and collections for various ethnic groups; and services for deaf, blind, and physically…