Little research has examined how low-income Asian American children are supported to achieve well in school. The authors used the notion of social capital to study higher versus lower achieving Chinese adolescents from low-income backgrounds. They found that families of higher-achieving adolescents built and used more effectively three kinds of…

A research review of ability and effort studies in the United States and Japan finds: (1) effort considered the primary determinant of achievement in Japan; (2) different concepts; and (3) the Japanese fostering task involvement through cooperation. Social structure may account for the attributional patterns of Japanese children. (SLD)

Studies of causal attributions among elementary school children and their mothers in Japan and in the United States indicate that the Japanese are more likely to cite effort as the primary cause of school achievement. In the United States, ability is more frequently selected as a key factor. The characteristics of Japanese mother-child interaction…