This exploratory study analyzed longitudinal data from 18 institutions to track the literacy development of 1,054 students during the first three years of college. Reading comprehension and attitude toward literacy activities were assessed at the beginning and end of the study. Students responded annually to questionnaires about college…

This paper describes the college admission process through the conceptual lens of Dickason's (2001) phases of affirmative action. The first phase, obligatory affirmative action, describes the history of affirmative action and the impact on college admission. The second phase, voluntary affirmative action, describes University of West Florida's…

The present study seeks insights from current school activists on the tendency of educators and others to engage in denial and avoidance when discussing issues surrounding racism, and how that affects the daily work on social justice projects in schools. The author outlines contemporary and historical aspects of the denial of racism in Canada, and…

With President George W. Bush's unprecedented call in January 2006 to expand the foreign language capacity of the United States, it has become clear that languages other than English (LOE) are of great interest to public policy in the United States. Yet the language capacity of the United States remains poorly documented. The 2000 General Social…

Teacher educators like talking about the pre-service--in-service continuum as a way of expressing their views, that inevitably, they are expected to play a multifaceted role in and outside of the classroom. In this respect, what is of greater concern is that many teachers are inadequately prepared to teach ethnically diverse students. Malaysia is…

"Chronicle of Higher Education" presents an abundant source of news and information for college and university faculty members and administrators. This May 21, 2004 issue of "Chronicle of Higher Education" includes the following articles: (1) "In New York, Unaccompanied" (Fogg, Piper); (2) "Why They Pirate: Study says Students aren't in it for the…

Majority-race (black or white) elementary school children with and without a minority friend (black or white) in their classroom were compared on measures of social, behavioral, and affective characteristics. Analyses focused on 260 4th through 6th grade students who were racial majorities in their classrooms and had at least one reciprocated…

In this article, we present an analysis and comparison of published articles in the "Journal of Marital and Family Therapy" (JMFT) between 1990-1995 and 1996-2000. This study focused on trends in author gender, highest degree, and professional affiliation, and article content on issues of cultural and family diversity (race/ethnicity, class,…

We examine whether racial/ethnic/language-based variation in measured levels of patients' trust in a physician depends on the survey items used to measure that trust. Survey items include: (1) a direct measure of patients' trust that the doctor will put the patient's medical needs above all other considerations, and (2) three indirect measures of…

In this paper I examine the ways that three fifth-grade girls from different socioeconomic backgrounds formed and reformed their racial identities in a diverse urban public school. Although the girls were labeled as "White" by their parents and the school district, none identified as "White." Drawing on data from an ethnographic study of…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 propelled high stakes testing to an unprecedented level of significance. Decisions based on the results of such mandated assessments is flawed in that the tests are not an accurate measure of actual knowledge and neglect to address environmental, socio-cultural, and economic factors influencing student…

Intergroup attitudes were assessed in African-American (N=70) and non-African-American minority (N=80) children, evenly divided by gender, in first (M=6.5 years old) and fourth (M=9.6 years old) grades attending mixed-ethnicity public schools in a suburban area of a large mid-Atlantic city in the USA. Children were interviewed to test hypotheses…

Our analysis focuses on the implications of social status characteristics for children's psychological well-being. Drawing on social evaluation theories and stress-based explanations, we hypothesized that disadvantage cumulates across statuses (the double jeopardy hypothesis) and over time as children move into the adolescent years. To test this…

The "good fruit, bad fruit" parable provides a metaphor for sound accountability. If one wants to assess the source of problems to determine quality, then one must look at what has been produced. Unfortunately, many researchers and practitioners have examined the fruit without determining the quality of the tree. This failure has allowed…

Objective: The purpose of this article is to: (1) illustrate the application of life table methodology to child abuse and neglect report data and (2) demonstrate the use of indicators derived from the life tables for monitoring the risk of child maltreatment within a community. Method: Computerized records of child maltreatment reports from a…