A cross-cultural study was undertaken to examine levels of communication apprehension reported by five- to eleven-year-old subjects in the United States and Sweden. The approach was twofold: the examination of elementary age subjects and the use of their native language. The Personal Report of Communication Fear was administered to 186 males and…

In Japan, absolute social status and power relationships among people are clearer than in the United States. The Japanese language supports this social system with the use of a special polite language ("keigo"), structural use of which is the same as polite language in English. The differences lie in the degrees of familiarity used and…

Twenty-five freshman Hispanic girls at Bowen High School in Chicago were motivated and encouraged to continue their education and explore various career goals. Methodology involved a highly personal interaction with the program worker. Three groups were formed--two were conducted in English and one was conducted in Spanish. Project goals were to…

People of different cultures differ in the cognitive style they use. Research reports that Mexican American children indicate a preference for field-sensitive cognitive strategies that are spatial-holistic, and middle class children a preference for field-independent strategies that are verbal-analytic. Brain research in hemisphericity appears to…

While concerns grow regarding the possible "decline" of America's traditional work ethics, there is a growing interest in Japanese economic successes and work ethics. This study compares the work ethics of American and Japanese men. A questionnaire was designed to measure values related to America's "Protestant work ethics" and…

This investigative report analyzes 1978-83 enrollment data from two national studies, selected state studies (California, Florida, Massachusetts, and New Jersey) and local school district studies (New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago) in order to determine the prevalence of exceptional bilingual students, examine general trends, and report…

While desegregation is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for ensuring either equity or quality education for minorities, the evidence is convincing that it is "educationally more difficult" to improve student achievement in segregated schools. Desegregation offers the opportunity to enhance the quality of education, particularly when…

Reported at this symposium were investigations using the projective "Tree Drawing" test in (1) a case study of the impact of natural and cultural environments on Japanese children attending elementary and junior high schools in Singapore by Kimio Yoshikawa and K. Loganathan Mutharayan; (2) a study comparing cognitive processes of normal,…

Item bias is defined as the dependence of item responses and group membership conditional on the value of the trait that the test is supposed to measure. The results of item bias detection methods based on this conditional definition and using a stepwise or iterative procedure appear to be adequate. In this paper, experimental studies in the…

The relationship of verbal skills to performance on the National Teacher Examinations Core Battery Test of General Knowledge was examined, using data from the June 1986 national administration. Differences in General Knowledge scores for self-identified Black and White examinees were found and were shown to interact with levels of achievement on…

A study of the processes for establishing the principles and policies of measurement and disclosure in preparing financial reports examines differences in these processes in the United States, Canada, and England. Information was drawn from international accounting literature on standard setting. The differences and similarities in the…

Jones and Hartmann (1988) investigated the relation between identity status and experimental substance use among adolescents in junior and senior high schools, identifying differences in substance use across four identity statuses for adolescents in general. This study was conducted to examine the generalizability of these differences across…

During the 1987-88 school year the New York City Board of Education instituted Magnet School Programs in the following high schools: (1) Central Park East Secondary School; (2) The High School for the Humanities; (3) Townsend Harris High School; and (4) John Dewey High School. The programs at these schools were designed to offer special curricula…

This guide presents a series of check lists to help teachers and counselors provide nonbiased assessment for referred children, particularly those who are culturally different. The first section deals with evaluating the legitimacy of the referral and considers whether parents have been properly notified. The second section, meeting the child,…

This booklet, developed for school counselors, explores basic considerations for effective counseling of Lau students, defined as those from distinct language and cultural backgrounds, whose home language is other than English and who are not performing conceptually and linguistically at a level equal to district standards. Following a brief…