The contributors to this yearbook attempt to explain the reasons for the poor fit between schools and poor, immigrant, linguistically different, and racial minority students. The problems that confront schools because of changing populations and increased diversity are discussed in the following chapters: (1) "The Old Problem of 'New…

The work reported on in this yearbook collection represent the work of educators committed to the concept that genuine reform takes place in settings where students and teachers work together to create new educational communities. Reports on ongoing projects in several parts of the United States are included in the following chapters: (1)…

Class, culture, and race have influenced the educational experiences of children for centuries, and they are gaining importance in the increasingly diverse American society of today. This reference work explores the critical importance of these issues to American education and uses historical, anthropological, sociological, and theoretical…

An in-depth ethnographic study of an upstate New York Middle School in an ethnically polarized community investigated teacher and community response to multicultural literature initiatives. Most of the data for the study came from interviews with and observations of teachers in the school; it was collected mostly over the 1991-92 school year when…

This paper presents the cases of four preservice teachers enrolled in a critical multicultural education course during Spring 2000, showing how the readings, cross-racial dialogues, and journal reflections that were part of the course helped students, for the first time and irrespective of race and gender, discuss their experiences and question…

This paper identifies and explores three major factors that affect the career choices of African Americans. First, the future of the American employment market is strongly based in technology, yet approximately two-thirds of the African American population reported their level of education at high school completion and lower. Second, African…

This report to the President and Congress addresses issues affecting people with disabilities from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds, based on a series of meetings which identified remaining barriers to full participation and developed recommendations for improving federal policies and programs. The main barriers which emerged were: (1)…

This study investigated the perceptions of female international graduate students from non-European countries of their adjustment experiences while studying at an urban research university, identifying coping strategies they used to overcome their problems. Data collection involved focus group interviews that emphasized: why they chose to pursue…

This paper reports a case study of Rajesh, a highly motivated and successful Asian Indian youth who has a severe form of spina bifida, a complex condition of the central nervous system. The paper also describes the demographics and discusses the child rearing practices of Asian Indian families, explains family structure and role relationships in…

This publication presents seven articles concerned with the education of students with disabilities or special talents who also have cultural or linguistic differences. Section 1 contains the following four articles: (1) "Code Switching: A Bridge or Barrier between Two Languages?" (Alejandro Brice and Linda I. Rosa-Lugo); (2) "Resistance Theories:…

People living in different parts of the world hold diverse beliefs about the nature and the nurturing of infants. Celebrating that diversity and based on the research of anthropologists, psychologists, and historians, this book presents information on child care from seven societies around the world, past and present, illustrating how the…

This social studies unit for elementary school students concentrates on comparing the different cultures of the neighboring countries of Israel and Jordan. The unit describes the educational objectives and explains that a variety of strategies are used to reach those objectives. It lists materials needed and procedures for evaluation, provides…

How schools can reach out to students and families from diverse cultural backgrounds was studied by examining the experiences of four families with students enrolled in a middle school in New York City. Also studied were families' perceptions of the school's efforts to reach out. The school's student body was 47% Latino and 34% African American,…

Recognizing the importance of leadership in determining the quality of early care and education programs, the International Leadership Project (ILP) was initiated in 1996 to develop an understanding of cross-cultural perspectives on leadership, to develop a conceptual framework of leadership, and to develop cross-cultural methodologies for…

This book is for administrators, teachers, policymakers, educational reformers, and community leaders who are concerned with achieving greater social justice in education. It provides an in-depth understanding of the challenges to schools brought about by lingering views of race, gender, ethnicity, and class, showing how the inequalities of the…