The purposes of this study were to examine whether ethnic differences in college students' self-construals exist and whether these self-construals are associated with preferences for different types of classroom organization; and also to test the validity of self-construal theory to explain psychological differences. Self-reports were collected…

The university eligibility of African American and Latino high school graduates in California has increased significantly in recent years. The Commission's most recent eligibility study showed that the percentage of African American high school graduates who met the minimum admission requirements of the University of California more than doubled…

When policymakers talk about closing the achievement gap, the focus is typically on bringing the average performance of minority or economically disadvantaged students in line with the average performance of White or middle-class students. From a statistical perspective, this strategy of bringing up the bottom to close the achievement gap is…

This document contains the 10 issues of the IDRA Newsletter published in 2002. The newsletter disseminates research findings, descriptions of successful programs and reforms, and other information related to equality of educational opportunity, focusing on Hispanic students, bilingual education, and Texas. Articles are: "Successful Bilingual…

This report uses a newly defined version of the Greene Method to calculate graduation rates for the public school class of 2000, comparing results to those of 1998. It calculates state and national figures using data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data. The 2000 national graduation rate was 69 percent (76…

The ethnic overrepresentation of students in special education programs has been recognized for decades. African Americans tend to be significantly over-represented in disability categories and underrepresented in gifted programs. While Hispanics and Native Americans are not over-represented in special education programs, they are in certain…

The objective of this book is to teach English to Latino adults so that they may successfully adapt to and cope with their new lives and conditions in the United States. Using oft-expressed needs as a guideline for content development, the lesson plans are designed to include exercises, basic vocabulary, and grammar that help students function in…

The Working Poor Project is a joint activity of the Chicago Urban League, the Latino Institute, and Northern Illinois University. Its purpose is to study the nature, extent, and impact of working poverty in seven counties in the Chicago (Illinois) metropolitan area. Phase I of this project developed a statistical profile of the area's working poor…

This study explored the attitudes toward higher education of Mexican Southern Baptists in California. Interviews with 15 families and questionnaires completed by 126 high school students show that members of this group hold positive attitudes toward higher education but financial constraints pose an obstacle too difficult for many of them to…

In 1988 the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Commission for Educational Quality produced a separate study of trends in population, education, and employment, looking ahead to the year 2000. The SREB Challenge 2000 goals have been the subject of detailed benchmark reports semi-annually since. This year, there are 12 reports in the…

This report presents data on a wide range of geographic, demographic, social, economic, and housing characteristics for the foreign-born population of the United States. Data for the native population are included for comparison. Data come from the March 2000 Current Population Survey. The core of the report is 22 sections presenting information…

This study investigated the relationships between teachers' education and their instructional style, focusing on one Latina elementary teacher working with English language learners. It examined what beliefs guided her choice of literacy instruction, how school structure impacted instruction, and the roles of culture and gender in literacy…

California policy makers and institutional leaders are making critical policy, programmatic, and budgetary decisions affecting segments of the state's population that lack sufficient levels of formal training and education. These decisions are occurring at a time when five critical trends are converging in the state. These trends are: (1)…

A gap in standardized achievement-test scores among different groups of students has existed since the inception of standardized testing. The gap between white and African-American schoolchildren was the primary impetus behind much of the social policy devoted to desegregating schools in the second half of the past century. Through a combination…

Effective instructional practices are crucial to addressing the educational crisis facing many Hispanic students in the United States. The number of Hispanic students attending public schools has increased dramatically in recent decades, yet Hispanic students as a group have the lowest levels of education and the highest dropout rate of any…