Purpose: This paper aims to identify and compare the nature of decentralization that has emerged in three important Asian societies after a decade of their involvement in the decentralization movement. Design/methodology/approach: Data from the first cycle of the program for international student assessment were analyzed to investigate educational…

Recent research has documented silence/reticence among East-Asian international students, including Chinese students, in Western/English classrooms. Students' communication competence and cultural differences from the mainstream Euro-American society have been identified as two primary barriers to participation. Placing emphasis on individual…

Teacher candidates must metaphorically "step out of their own skins," challenging stereotypical cultural metanarratives, to teach effectively. This study describes results of collegian mentoring 1st- through 12th-grade students representing diverse ethnic and/or socioeconomic status groups in conjunction with a sophomore-level course on…

The purpose of this study is to describe forum participation of international graduate students who speak English as a foreign language in two Web-based graduate courses. Research questions focused around how linguistic and cultural differences impact nonnative speaking international students' perception of classroom participation, what effect…

In this article, the author discovers the cultural challenges and rewards of starting a center for English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). When she became the principal of a middle school outside of Baltimore, MD, she learned that her first year would also be the school's first year as a middle school English for speakers of other…

A large percentage of African American students comprise special education classes; yet few African Americans are special education teachers. Determinants of success for African Americans pursuing graduate study previously cited in the literature include academic and financial support, and faculty-student mentoring relationships. This qualitative…

The authors examined manifest anxiety and perceptions of English and French language competence among Anglophone (n = 35), Francophone (n = 29), and Mixed-heritage (n = 34) elementary education (60%) and secondary education (40%) students (80% female) in their second, third, or fourth year of study at the Faculte Saint Jean (University of…

Residence hall students' (N = 1,186, 52% male, 90% White, 66% freshmen) involvement in their living community is influenced significantly by precollege student characteristics (gender, ethnicity), classification, attitudes (toward hall director, house cabinet, academic comfort, social environment, group study), and environmental variables (noise,…

This paper reports an empirical study of the psychological and sociocultural adjustments of two cohorts of Chinese students taking a foundation course in English language at a British university. Using Zung's (1965) Self-Rating Depression Scale and a modification of Ward and Kennedy's (1999) Sociocultural Adaptation Scale, quantitative data were…

An extensive and coherent body of social and psychological research has identified social ties and supportive relationships as important predictors of well-being and quality of life. This paper examines the relationships between structural and functional indicators of supportive relations and well-being in Greece at different levels of analysis…

This book is for teachers, teacher educators, school and district administrators, policy makers, and researchers who want to know about literacy, cultural diversity, and students who speak little or no English. It offers a rich picture of the incredible diversity of students who enter secondary school as immigrants--their abilities, their needs,…

The growth in public preschool education is based on research that shows high-quality prekindergarten has a positive effect on children's chances of succeeding in school and life. Beneath the surface of this growth, however, lies a troubling lag in preschool education participation by the nation's largest, fastest growing and yet most…

The educational system in many schools fails to meet the academic needs of minority students. The dramatic shifts in student demographics are demanding changes in the ways teachers are teaching them. It is essential to understand the long term effects of past educational practices and bilingual programs. Research indicates that there are many…

Although video has long been used as a teaching aid in adult literacy and basic education, literacy researchers seem to have ignored the potential benefits of using video as a tool that could add rigour to research. Reporting on their field experiences of an adult literacy learning study in Canada, the authors provide a narrative account of their…

Data gathered from 142 public university elementary and secondary teacher preparation programs across the United States (representing the preparation of approximately 23,000-30,000 new teachers annually), indicated that race/ethnicity was the most emphasized diversity topic followed by special needs, language diversity, economic (social class),…