This article reports on an inter-generational inter-cultural pilot project carried out in suburban Melbourne which supports the second-language acquisition of younger people and enhances the social inclusion of older people of migrant background. The article begins with an outline of the multilingual context in which the project is based. The…

The students' attrition rates among students enrolled at SQU ranged between 6.8% (1998), 7.8% (1999), and 7.9% (2000). However, the drop-out rate at the Sultan Qaboos University is increasing gradually, and this increase represents a problem for the university that provides free education and financial aid for all male students coming from areas…

This paper provides insight into the experience of Clemente humanities education for six regional and rural Australian women living around Ballarat. Each took part in an audio-taped semi-structured interview which explored the impact that university study had on their lives. Their responses suggest that Clemente Ballarat was life-giving. The…

The inequity of streaming as a method of organising classes was established by research conducted in the 1960s and 1970s. While the practice produces small advantages for limited groups of students, it hinders the academic and social advancement of the majority. Although streaming has declined, new forms of achievement grouping have emerged, with…

This document is the report on research which was undertaken by the Center of Civil Integration and Inter-Ethnic Relations and financed by the United Nations Association in Georgia within the project "Advanced National Integration" funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The research aimed at the evaluation…

The mixed heritage population is one of the fastest growing in the United States. With mixed heritage youth doubling in the past ten years, higher education institutions can expect an increase of this minority group. Historically higher education has responded to underrepresented student needs and designed student services for monoracial students…

This study was designed to investigate the influence of self-efficacy on the college persistence of students. More specifically, this study explored how pre-entry and second semester academic and social self efficacies affect the academic integration, social integration, and institutional retention of college students. In addition, this study…

The Labor government in Australia has recently embarked on an extremely ambitious program of social inclusion for the most marginalized groups in society. Drawing upon the approach of "policy scholarship" this paper examines some federal government "policy texts" to describe what has occurred and asks questions about what is…

All people influence, and are influenced by, the contexts they inhabit. Leisure contexts are no exception. The current research comprised three studies investigating the links between one leisure context, skate parks, and adolescent development. Using interview, observation, and questionnaire methods, the research shed light on several of the…

Background: To understand how neighborhoods influence the development of youth violence, we investigated intrapersonal mediators of the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and youth violence trajectories between ages 11 and 18. The hypothesized mediators included indicators of social bonding (belief in conventional values, involvement…

While first language social networks offer immigrants practical and emotional support in the early period of their settlement in a new country, the development of social networks through English is crucial at this time not only for the acquisition of the linguistic and social capital vital to their long-term advancement, but also for the…

With a sample of African American and European American 3rd- and 4th-grade children (N = 486, ages 8-11 years), this study examined classroom ethnic composition, peer social status (i.e., social preference and perceived popularity as nominated by same- and cross-ethnicity peers), and patterns of ethnic segregation (i.e., friendship, peer group,…

Little is known about contributors to positive social, behavioral, and emotional adjustment among foreign-born youth at different stages of adapting to life in the United States. Using baseline data from the Adolescent Latino Acculturation Study (N = 217), this article examines the effects of time in residency on parent adjustment, family stress,…

Many surveys show that the non-traditional students present a higher risk of dropping out (National Audit Office, 2007; Provasnik & Planty, 2008). Nevertheless, empirical research that tries to understand this phenomenon, also in light of different institutional contexts (e.g. four years or two years, residential or non-residential) and of the…

Background: Since 2010, French secondary schools with a high proportion of students in academic difficulty benefit from a compensatory education policy called "Ecoles Colleges et Lycees pour l'Ambition, l'Innovation et la Reussite" (ECLAIR). These students tend to behave poorly and frequently disengage from learning tasks, and thus one…