Purpose: This study aims to examine caregiver perceptions and use of the Early Communication Indicator--Autism (ECI-A), an adapted, naturalistic assessment to measure progress on communication skills, and explore differences across racial and ethnic groups to provide preliminary data about the cultural responsiveness of the newly adapted ECI-A.…

This qualitative study explored how teachers describe their sense of preparedness in working with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. The concern is from a Kansas licensure policy change in 2007 where teachers have two options of taking the coursework or testing only to add-on the English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)…

Recognizing the importance of designing educational opportunities that draw upon students' prior knowledge and experiences, this paper uses focus groups to explore how Spanish-speaking students in a graduate program at the University of Kansas (KU) in Lawrence understand academic information literacy practices within their new cultural contexts.…

Two cross-national experimental studies examined the effects of PeaceMaker and Global Conflicts on knowledge acquisition and attitude change regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. PeaceMaker and Global Conflicts are role-playing computerized simulations of this conflict. 248 undergraduate students from Turkey, Israel, Palestine and the US…

Over several years the American public educational system has failed to address one of the most infuriating problems faced by our nation, narrowing the achievement gap in urban districts with urban learners. Historically, minority students have not paralleled the academic performance of their White counterparts. This holds true with standardized…

Teacher selection, retention, and evaluation form a contentious policy knot. This paper: (1) reviews the recent history of teacher labor markets; (2) describes the teacher selection, preparation and retention policies of three countries that successfully reformed their systems; (3) proposes a different theoretical guide; and (4) reviews key…

Global learning is a student-centered activity in which learners of different cultures use technology to improve their global perspectives while remaining in their home countries. This article examines the use of global learning with gifted students to develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary for world citizenship. We describe a…

While the Old Order Amish are often thought of as the plain dressing religious sect that attracts millions of tourists annually to Pennsylvania Dutch country, this Anabaptist group also has a significant history in the Great Plains. The Amish who settled in the Great Plains share commonalities with the Old Order Amish who remained in more…

Many rural Midwestern communities are experiencing rapid growth in Latino populations with low rates of health insurance coverage, limited financial resources, language and cultural differences, and special health care needs. We report on 2-day site visits conducted in 2001 and 2002 in 3 communities (Marshalltown, Iowa; Great Bend, Kansas; and…

To examine the hypotheses that differences exist between Indians and non-Indians in the nonverbal regulation of conversation and that these differences cause functional difficulties in classroom interaction, the study quantitatively examined differences in the nonverbal repertoires of students and teachers in an American Indian school system and a…