Parental involvement in the educational process is examined as one of the elements that can raise academic achievement and allow schools to achieve success. The benefits of parental involvement are outlined, from those to students, such as improved academic performance, greater student motivation, and lower dropout rates, through those to parents…

This study examined teacher educators' and student teachers' beliefs about, attitudes toward, and sensitivity regarding cultural diversity and other diversity issues. The Beliefs about Diversity Scale was used to assess respondents' beliefs about race, gender, social class, ability, language/immigration, sexual orientation, and multicultural…

This book offers case studies, observations, and practical, culturally responsive solutions to the challenges presented by diversity in the classroom. By telling stories and asking questions, the book explains that progress is slow-moving and that quality, equity, and fair, appropriate treatment are often very hard to find, even in good schools.…

Noting that the early years of a child's life are the most critical for speech and language development and that parents are the child's primary language role model, this book is designed to help parents become knowledgeable on the topic of child language development during their first six years. Chapter 1 covers the infant's first year and the…

The South Australian State Department of Education, Training and Employment allocates funding to schools in much the way that the literature suggests is a generic basis for funding schools. This includes per school base funding, per student funding for all students, additional per student allocations based on year levels, and additional per…

This book examines the relationship between a person's success and his or her ability to understand, respect, and value diversity. It also explores how people can develop diversity consciousness. Chapter 1, "Diversity: An Overview," discusses the changing cultural landscape, dimensions of diversity, diversity between and within groups,…

This paper presents the results of a research study carried out with Mexican college students to analyze the relationship between readers' cognitive styles (field dependent/independent) and their performance at different levels of written discourse processing in Spanish (L1) and English (L2). The sample for the study included 452 undergraduate…

This book describes a culturally responsive science curriculum that the author has been teaching for 25 years. The curriculum integrates Native American traditional values, teaching principles, and concepts of nature with those of modern Western science. Every Indigenous culture has an orientation to learning that is metaphorically represented in…

Past rural policies are reviewed, noting the effects of globalization and information technology. Rural business profits can be maximized by direct cost or value-added competition, but cost competition limits the development of productive capacity and leads to unequal income distribution. In contrast, value-added competition could create steep…

Peruvian education achieved notable successes in the late 20th century, with primary education reaching almost all children and secondary institutions enrolling about 80 percent of 12- to 16-year-olds. Public expenditure on education increased steadily in the 1990s but was still significantly less than the Latin American average. This report…

This study examines the relationship between school consolidation and district transportation costs, effects on instructional expenditures, and institutional factors supporting consolidation. Data on actual student transportation costs across the United States indicate that despite widespread school and school district consolidation,…

This paper examines social and economic forces affecting rural areas at the beginning of the 21st century and lists potential strategies to cope with those concerns. Rural development is necessary to place rural and urban areas on a more equal footing, compensate for the youth "brain drain," preserve the retirement-option value, relieve…

This literature and research review was conducted to provide an Aboriginal perspective to the work of the Western Canadian Protocol Social Studies K-12 Project. The Project is a positive step toward rebuilding cooperative relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples, and will also provide the students of western Canada with an…

This paper describes the Sophomore Multicultural Internship for preservice teachers at Moorhead State University, Minnesota. From 1990-95, the program immersed preservice teachers in cross-cultural encounters and K-12 clinical experiences intended to: engender enlightened tolerance; provide an embedded context for making moral choices to pursue…

This paper examines the practice of successful urban teachers, exploring the validity of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) and Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) urban teacher assessments. Results from a literature review and empirical evidence indicate that successful teaching occurs when…