The authors interviewed 27 teachers (16 African American and 11 European American) on instructional factors contributing to overidentification of behavior problems in African American boys. Interviews focused on teachers' perspectives of effective teachers, teacher-student relationships, and communication styles. Analysis of the interviews showed…

In this study, the researcher has examined and presented the perceptions and attitudes of K-12 school teachers regarding students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. In addition, these same teachers were asked to evaluate their own professional preparations that might enable them to identify and effectively teach these…

Based on the theoretical perspectives of socio-constructivism and language socialization, this study reports two Chinese Canadian first grader's experiences of language and literacy learning in and out of school in a unique sociocultural setting where they were "the mainstream." The article examines the students' reading and writing…

Emiliana Vegas surveys strategies used by the world's developing countries to fill their classrooms with qualified teachers. With their low quality of education and wide gaps in student outcomes, schools in developing countries strongly resemble hard-to-staff urban U.S. schools. Their experience with reform may thus provide insights for U.S.…

The year 2004 marked the 50th anniversary of the landmark "Brown vs. Board of Education" case that put an official end to segregated schooling in the USA. Desegregation has received little attention as of late, yet a number of scholars argue that the work of desegregation is far from being complete in the USA. The aim of this paper is to…

This research study addresses the childhood obesity epidemic, which has seen the number of overweight children from the ages of 6 to 11 triple since the mid-1970s. The authors note that there are more than twice as many poor and obese adolescents compared with more affluent youths, and examine a number of factors linking obesity and poverty.…

This paper offers a theoretical comparison of the concept of the individual presumed in modern Islamic educational theory and western moral educational theory, revealing a distinct Islamic point of view on the western educational premise that a moral universe is derived dialectically between individual and society. From an Islamic perspective,…

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is often presented as a promising learning method. However, it is also facing some new challenges. Apart from answering the question of whether or not working with CSCL generates satisfying learning outcomes, it is important to determine whether or not all participants profit from collaboration,…

This research reports pupils' perceptions of their quality of school life in primary schools in Northern Ireland, investigated through development and use of a culturally adapted instrument with both experimental (Irish-medium) and control (English-medium) groups. A related issue examined via a second culturally adapted instrument was the pupils'…

This research project represents phase 1 of a longitudinal study involving sixth graders in an English-as-a-Second-Language middle school classroom. Research activities focus on the development and implementation of portfolio management strategies for these students. It was believed that developing an efficient system to teach these students how…

The Urban Education Project at Research for Better Schools, Inc. has developed an integrated knowledge base that incorporates and disseminates the most current and promising research for improvement and reform in urban schools. This knowledge base has been organized into a decision-making framework, the Urban Learner Framework (ULF), that…

The Student Literacy Corps of Fitchburg State College, Massachusetts, in cooperation with the surrounding community, implemented a successful literacy program whose primary goal was to nurture and develop literacy opportunities and awareness of cultural diversity for area youth and adults. College students (for whom this is an elective course)…

The process of school-empowerment ultimately may be intellectual: an awareness and understanding by schools as unique collective learning communities that new school structures, roles, and relationships are necessary in the first place. First, preliminary results from field studies of schools undergoing restructuring are used to show that school…

Noting that the strength of society is inextricably linked to the strength of its families, this book examines the evolution of current principles and practices in family support, and discusses future directions in quality services, training, and evaluation. The 20 chapters in this book are: (1) "America's Children and Families: An…

This paper discusses a study that explored the concerns and perceptions of culturally diverse families and the attitudes of preservice teachers toward students from culturally diverse families. To begin with, a qualitative study was conducted in which five international families and six American families were interviewed to examine concerns of…