In her new book, Yvette Jackson shows educators how to focus on students' strengths to inspire learning and high intellectual performance. Jackson asserts that the myth that the route to increasing achievement by focusing on weaknesses (promoted by policies such as NCLB) has blinded us to the strengths and intellectual potential of urban…

Even when the socioeconomic background is controlled, there is still a difference between blacks and whites in academic achievement. Studies have shown that, though social class is a factor in that difference, ethnicity is the primary factor. This report discusses ideologies that have tried to explain that ethnic difference. It discusses the…

Two studies were conducted to examine perceptions about achievement and achieving peers in 190 U.S. and Chinese kindergartners. Children provided free-narrative responses to story beginnings about an achieving protagonist in school settings. We found marked cultural differences. For achievement, U.S. children perceived more intellectual…

Many gifted Asian American adolescent males face cultural issues that may impact their success. This article presents important cultural dilemmas faced by 2 gifted Asian American young men. Through a qualitative approach, the acculturation experiences of John and Matt, gifted Taiwanese, second generation immigrants, are described.…

This paper presents a study of the educational problems of the Skolt Lapp children living in Finland. (The Skolt Lapps have a distinctively different culture from the rest of the Finnish people.) The study was designed to define: (1) to what degree cultural factors affect the educational readiness (intellectual functions, school motivation, and…