The issue of overrepresentation of minority groups in special education is discussed. The example of Mexican American and Puerto Rican children is used to illustrate that overrepresentation is justified and desirable if the relative need of the children in the groups differs in developmental and functional status. Policy implications are…

In the last five years the number of master's and first professional degrees earned by African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans has increased substantially, but concern persists that the trend is not sustainable without affirmative-action policy. While minority enrollment has not declined overall, it has decreased in some…

Analysis of National Educational Longitudinal Study data examined measures of parent/student involvement (parent/child discussion, involvement in parent/teacher organization, monitoring adolescent behavior, educational-support strategies) and their effects on achievement, truancy, and dropping out. Parental involvement generally explained…

Teachers in a Spanish/English dual language elementary school in Tucson (Arizona) promote Spanish literacy using a school-designed program. The schoolwide, nonscripted program has been successful in supporting the transfer of reading skills from Spanish to English and in including special education students in dual language schooling. (Contains 33…

This study examined schooling characteristics of 46 Hispanic limited-English-proficient elementary students referred to or participating in bilingual special education in New York City. Findings suggested most referrals to special education were due to general academic deficits and reading/language factors, although few interventions had been…

A study that videotaped 12 Mexican-American and 12 Anglo-American junior high school students with learning disabilities while they wrote stories in ethnically heterogeneous and homogeneous dyads, found students were skilled in maintaining positive and assertive reciprocal interactions whether they were paired with partners of the same or…

Explores benefits derived from the "Gardendale Family" (a vertically aligned team of K-6 classrooms). Describes how older students give guidance, feedback, and validation to those in lower grades as the younger children become active members of the literacy community; and how students use written and oral language in authentic and…

Explores benefits derived from the "Gardendale Family" (a vertically aligned team of K-6 classrooms in which students remain throughout their elementary school careers). Highlights a community-based research project which served as a vehicle for fostering cross-age learning opportunities, connecting students' learning to their community,…

Racial and ethnic differences in girls' desired and perceived normative role timing and the extent to which socioeconomic and family factors, school, and job aspirations might be linked with girls' role-timing expectations are studied (N=574). Racial and ethnic differences are contrasted with socioeconomic differences. The need for…

Uses data from focus groups with Latina and Alaska Native college students to examine how the quality of their public education affected their later college achievement. Students reported arriving at college unable to perform college work. They used college labs and developmental classes to enhance their skills. Students experienced bias, racism,…

Provides school-based practitioners with an understanding and appreciation of how one Latino (Puerto Rican) community's natural support systems played an influential role in helping families and communities collaborate with schools. A set of guiding principles is presented along with a discussion of strategies and barriers to success. (SLD)

A 3-year ethnographic study of middle-school students in a two-way bilingual program found that Mexican-background students learned to value English over Spanish at school. The hidden curriculum, instructional practices, and assessment policy devalued the students' native linguistic cultural capital compelling them to use English in the classroom…

Identifies the unwritten Spanish language policy in the United States by historically analyzing the different roles that Spanish has had throughout U.S. history. The paper shows how Spanish has been used for the benefit of the Spanish- and English-speaking elite but restricted (or forbidden) as a socioeconomic tool and symbol of identity for less…

A qualitative study of four Chicano high school students involved in a range of disciplinary actions revealed students' feelings of alienation, substantive differences in student and teacher perceptions of misbehavior, student perceptions of injustices in rule applications, poor classroom management and instructional techniques, the basis of…

Surveys and interviews compared school-related attitudes and activities of 47 Spanish-speaking parents who received training in parental involvement strategies with 84 who did not. The group receiving parent liaison training participated more frequently and in a wider variety of school-related activities. (Contains 40 references.) (Author/TD)