With high numbers of immigrant students enrolled in community colleges it is important "institutional agents" (Dowd, Pak, Bensimon, 2013) support the unique needs of immigrant students to increase college transfer and degree completion. Using the "funds of knowledge" framework (Gonzalez, Moll & Amanti, 2005), this study…

Three areas of concern relative to Tongan Americans' acculturation to the United States are the focus of this paper. First, Tongan Americans believe that a high school education is sufficient. Although Tongan families come to the United States in the name of education, once they are here their objectives change. Seeing that high school graduates…

In 1990, the Satellite Telecommunications Educational Programming (STEP) Network in Spokane (Washington) joined with state education agencies from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington to form the Pacific Northwest Star Schools partnership for distance education. The STEP network offers telecast courses to 500 schools, 90% of which are in…

This study explored multicultural education at a minority university in the Pacific, the University of Guam. The study represented Phase 2 of a research project that began in 1999 with the goal of further understanding the practice of multicultural pedagogy in higher education. Phase 1 measured the attitudes and perceptions of faculty members…

Asian and Pacific Americans (APAs) constitute a small yet important segment of the students, faculty, and staff participating in higher education in the United States. A survey was mailed to student affairs personnel at 70 institutions (classified as "Research Universities 1" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement in Teaching) in 1993 to…

The concept of cultural pluralism and how it is being applied to education, particularly in terms of its implications for Asian/Pacific Americans, is addressed in this paper. First, historical background to the emergence of cultural pluralism as a concept in education (and its institutionalization as multicultural education) is briefly reviewed.…

This study looked at attitudes toward counseling in a group of Asian American and Pacific Islander college students. It hypothesized that these students believed their families would not approve of them seeking therapy and that therapy would be an embarrassment to them. It also hypothesized that these students felt therapy was ineffective for…

College attendance patterns for Asian Americans and their academic persistence, choice of study, and sources of financial aid were assessed, based on results of the High School and Beyond Study, a longitudinal study of high school sophomores and seniors in 1980. Findings for the sample of 439 sophomores and 391 seniors include: 86 percent of Asian…

A synthesis is presented of national data describing the status of Asian Americans in higher education. Thirteen tables provide data on enrollment trends, degrees earned by major fields and persistence and progress in college. The statistics provided are for Asian or Pacific Islanders, as compared to non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black,…

This research report focuses on Asian- and Pacific-American adolescent high school achievement. It is part of a continuing collaborative effort between Stanford researchers and six high schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. This Study of Families and Schools, as part of the larger Study of Stanford and the Schools, is primarily concerned with…

There is a misconception in the research literature that low income students from underrepresented minority groups need special educational programs to be successful in a competitive society. This study investigated the performance of Pacific and Asian students in a traditional academic environment, The Lab School in Hawaii, where they were given…

This report, part of a larger study of the impact of family structures and processes on the social and academic performance of American high school students, focuses on Asian- and Pacific-American high school achievement. The following findings are reported: (1) Asian-Americans and Pacific-Americans exhibit very different patterns in school…

The diversity that actually exists among Asian-Pacific American students is explored, and the most common stereotypes that mainstream teachers have of them are described. Teachers often express a preference for working with Asian-Pacific American students, but judging students on stereotypes, even positive ones, neglects individual differences and…

The performance of students of different ethnic backgrounds as they progressed through school was investigated. The school was a traditional one that focused on academics and in which all students followed the same program of study. The study analyses similarities and differences in grade point average and scores on standardized tests for…

A study was conducted to determine special educators' sense of concern or awareness about ethnic/multicultural issues. A questionnaire, sent to 1,000 members of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), achieved only a 17.5% response rate but was felt to represent adequately the entire group. Respondents were asked their opinions regarding the…