Two case studies of men from diverse cultures, African American and Vietnamese American, illustrate the potential for underachievement among first-generation gifted students at comprehensive universities. Amplifying previous studies, this research provides an examination of attrition and highlights influences on underachievement. Conclusions…

In 6 short years, principal Lirah Sabir salvaged a low-achieving, predominantly black elementary school in downtown Memphis. Her vision is to make students integral members of society. Impressive gains in student health and achievement; community, parental, and staff involvement; and curriculum and instruction are explained. (MLH)

Examined the first year of cooperative planning between an elementary school and the local community for a full-service elementary school collaboration. Data from observations, surveys, and interviews provide feedback on perceptions of student achievement, barriers, parent participation, leadership and power, the planning process, and goals and…

Summarizes research on educational programs that use stigmatized varieties of English in the classroom, and reviews relevant theory and research in psycholinguistics and second language acquisition. Research on educational programs shows that using the stigmatized variety in formal education seems to have a positive effect on the acquisition of…

This study examined the performance of 59 at-risk, African-American preschoolers on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III. Student scores were below those reported for the standardization sample, however, the performance spread resulted in a normal distribution of scores. Level of education of the primary caregiver influenced performance.…

This article discusses the poor reading achievement of African-American children in urban schools and argues that prevention efforts must begin prior to kindergarten. Key variables influencing young children's performance, including poverty, general oral language skills, dialectal variations, home literacy practices, standardized testing bias, and…

Building on a conceptual model of the transition to elementary school, this study explored the role of health in the early cognitive achievement of children from various racial/ethnic minority and immigrant families by applying multilevel modeling to data from a nationally representative sample of American kindergarteners. Whites tended to have…

The 1954 ruling of "Brown v. Board of Education" by the U.S. Supreme Court impacted the social lives of African Americans. The primary purpose of this research was to examine the experiences and struggles for social justice in education and educational institutions as viewed from the context of historically Black colleges and…

Many U.S. students speak nonstandard forms of English, yet dialect issues are slighted in teacher education programs and literacy courses. In this study, classroom teachers who spoke Standard American English (SE) were familiarized with seven syntactic features characterizing African American English (AAE). Three approaches to instruction based on…

In the "Columbia Law Review," Harry Jones (1974) illustrates five general and sometimes overlapping purposes of the law. They include the preservation of the public peace and safety, the settlements of individual disputes, the maintenance of security expectations, the resolutions of conflicting social interests, and the channeling of…

This article reports on a study that examined the effectiveness of introducing African music and culture to Australian non-specialist primary teacher education students at Deakin University in Melbourne (Australia). The study demonstrates that African music enhanced the generic musical experiences, learning, motivation, interest, confidence and…

During the late 1960s and early 70s, the antiwar movement gained momentum and introduced a new wave of protest and demonstrations throughout the nation. At many colleges and universities, military training programs were discontinued or in jeopardy of losing their appeal. Much of the violence that did involve students on Black campuses directly…

Within this book Leadership for Social Justice: Promoting Equity and Excellence Through Inquiry and Reflective Practice the contributors provide a variety of rich perspectives to the social justice phenomenon from the lens of empirical, historical, narrative, and conceptual designs. These designs reiterate the importance of bridging theory and…

Since the 1980s, "Rethinking Schools" magazine has been renowned for its commitment to racial equality in education. Now, "Rethinking Multicultural Education: Teaching for Racial and Cultural Justice" has collected the best Rethinking Schools articles that deal with race and culture. "Rethinking Multicultural…

This study of 570 (309 men and 261 women aged 16 to 60 years) undergraduate students in a small, regionally accredited, Southern church-related college was conducted to determine whether or not the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is a valid predictor of academic success for students who entered college late in life (after age 30 years). Data…