Search

This article documents evidence of nonrandom gender sorting across K-12 schools in the United States. The sorting exists among coed schools and at all grade levels, and it is highest in the secondary school grades. We observe some gender sorting across school sectors and types: for instance, males are slightly underrepresented in private schools and charter schools and are substantially overrepresented in irregular public schools, a large share of which educates students with special needs and juvenile justice involvement. Gender sorting within sectors and types is also quite prevalent and appears to be highest within the private schools (where single-sex schools are more common) and irregular public schools. We find that gender sorting is higher in counties that have higher shares of enrollment in private and nonregular public schools. This sorting occurs even though parents have similar stated preferences for school attributes for their sons and daughters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the political situation in the United States in the 1960s and the election of President John Kennedy. Topics mentioned include the government policy regarding education, the education of students regarding politics, and the education of immigrants. The author also discusses the evolution of McCarthyism, the campaign against alleged communists.

The article provides an overview of research on the challenges facing higher education institutions in supporting the needs of an adult student population that is no longer nontraditional in the U.S. It cites several characteristics of a nontraditional student including an entry to college has been delayed by at least one year following high school, being financially independent, and not having a high school diploma. It indicates that adult learners who experience academic success in higher education tend to gain personal and economic benefits. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data reveal that 38% of the enrollment of more than 18 million college students in 2007 were 25 years of age or older.

Differences between Caucasian and non-Caucasian students were examined in terms of perceptions of diversity among faculty members, satisfaction with faculty diversity, perceptions that faculty diversity contributed to their educational experience, and perceptions of faculty respect for diversity among students. Surveys were distributed electronically to all majors from one department at a predominantly-Caucasian university; 109 were returned. Caucasians, compared to non-Caucasians, agreed more strongly that the faculty appeared to be from diverse backgrounds, that they were satisfied with the level of diversity among faculty, and that faculty respected diversity among students; Non-Caucasians agreed more strongly that faculty diversity contributed their educational experiences. Non-Caucasian students, compared to Caucasian students, may not have perceived a department dominated by Caucasian faculty as welcoming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the post-World War II era, most U.S. colleges and universities began to promote diversity and internationalization ideals. However, the extent to which U.S. higher education institutions have been successful in achieving diversity, especially in relation to stimulating diverse social interactions between the international and American student body, is an area of study that requires further investigation. The purpose of this study was to examine international graduate students' perceptions of diversity efforts at a specific U.S. higher education institution, and how these perceptions influenced their social interaction choices and practices while pursuing their degrees at the institution. A qualitative methodology was conducted with 60 participants from 26 different countries. Based upon the data that was analyzed, international graduate students identified five major areas at the University that require improvement if diverse social interactions are to take place. Policy recommendations for improvements are also presented which may be useful to higher education faculty, administrators and policy-makers interested in improving international relations and campus diversity initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Context: Although increasing numbers of scholars have begun to focus on student experiences, research on the history of underrepresented populations' transition to college is still in its formative stage. The classic histories of higher education have tended to focus on university infrastructure and intellectual life rather than on student experiences. In addition, historians studying college enrollment generally have not used the policy frameworks of preparation, access, finance, and completion as their central analytical categories. Instead, most historians have organized their work around individual institutions and the categories of race, gender, and class. Purpose: This article explores the question of what historical scholarship might contribute to current campaigns for equal access to higher education. Research Design: This study was a literature review of all historical scholarship on college access produced in the last twenty five years. Literature was identified by searches on ERIC, Academic Search Premier, and JSTOR, and by consulting the references of the most commonly cited works in this field. For purposes of analysis, the review is divided into sections on "Preparation," "Admissions," "Finance," and "Retention." Each section highlights potential implications for contemporary thinking about college access and recommends future areas for historical inquiry. This essay does not claim to be an exhaustive survey of all historical scholarship on college access. Instead, the article focuses on work representing broad themes and major debates in the historiography as well as scholarship which touches most directly on transitions to college. Conclusions/Recommendations: First, evidence from the nineteenth century suggests that even elite liberal arts colleges can take an active role in providing college preparation while still remaining true to other aspects of their academic mission. Secondly, although the increasing interest in "merit" once served to expand access to college by opening admissions to academically skilled but socially or economically marginalized students, it became a hurdle for equal access by the final third of the twentieth century. Since colleges have struggled to articulate a consistent measurement of student merit, it is unclear if it is possible to determine a coherent or constructive college mission based on this concept. Third, while market forces have occasionally motivated institutions to expand access to underrepresented populations, state intervention has generally been necessary to increase access to college. Finally, the most powerful lesson that history can provide may be reminding politicians that experts have typically underestimated the extent of the demand for higher education by both students and employers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the education of African American girls and women. It begins with a look at scholarship on African American girls and women published in The Journal of Negro Education from its inception in 1932 to the present. Subsequently, a historical overview of the long, hard-fought struggles of educating this population for empowerment and uplift of the race is provided, including a discussion of late 19th and early 20th century schools for African American girls and women and prominent African American women educators of this period. This is followed by an examination of contemporary successes and challenges including a look at the educational outcomes and experiences of African American girls and women in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary institutions. Finally, the article concludes with recommendations for better understanding and enhancing the education of African American girls and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on preparing secondary-school teachers to support student literacy in subject-area classrooms. The author explains the need for the teachers to commit both heart and mind to improve literacy and implement reading strategies in addition to teaching content. She explains the curriculum she uses with student teachers to convince them that literacy is a matter of social justice, and that their students are at a political, social, and economic disadvantage without it. The author addresses obstacles to literacy instruction in the United States, such as the entrenchment of the lecture method of teaching, the refusal to see literacy as both pedagogy and social action, and the demographic differences between teachers and students.

The question that drives this article is why some school districts decide to open up charter schools and others do not. Several answers are plausible: (a) entrepreneurial initiative, (b) structural explanations, and (c) spatial competition. We use data for the state of Wisconsin derived from extensive case studies of 19 charter schools and quantitative data on Wisconsin school district from state files and the U.S. Department of Education common core databases. We find evidence to support all three explanations for why districts "go charter." First, in almost every school and district we visited for case studies, at the heart of either the district or the charter school, and often both, there were entrepreneurial administrators, school board members, teachers, or parents. Our evidence was anecdotal but very consistent across 19 case studies. Second, there are two general sets of structural characteristics that were shown to be quantitatively correlated with becoming a charter district. The first set comprised resource characteristics (size, federal revenue, and available seats); the second set comprised indicators of unmet students needs (the percentage of students eligible for free lunch). Finally, we argue and believe we provide significant evidence that competition is also a motivation for going charter. We posit that open enrollment and charter schools are working together to enhance the flows of students from homeschooling, private schools, dropouts, and other public school districts into charter school districts. Thus using several different indicators and models, estimating both which districts become charter districts and the flow and net gain directly from open enrollment, there is no question that charter schools are increasing competition for students in Wisconsin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the effects of school racial and ethnic composition on students' academic achievement in the U.S. using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and hierarchical linear models. This analysis includes Hispanics, which stands apart from other research in this area that has traditionally focused on only Black and White student racial composition. In addition, peer group influences are measured by utilizing the comprehensive peer network data available for all respondents in the sample. Interactions between individual race/ethnicity and school racial/ethnic composition are also tested to better understand the possible differential effects of racial/ethnic composition for each race/ethnicity. The results show that school and peer racial/ethnic composition has important effects on individual level achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the effect of U.S. population diversity on parent-teacher collaboration, especially in the educational planning for students with special needs. The author present possible barriers to parent involvement and the positive effects of parent involvement. The progressive plan outlined includes parent in the collaborative relationship from start to finish; helps teacher understand the needs of families from culturally diverse backgrounds, and includes activities designed to strengthen trust in educational professionals and the planning process for individualized education programs. Activity suggestions, important facts to remember, and additional factors for each stage of the plan's implementation are included.

This study explores the notion that mainstream and minority institutions of higher education set different expectations for successful communication in the classroom that are reflected in the cultural majority student population's communication preferences. In this study, African-American students (N = 136) perceived their instructors to be more nonverbally immediate than their Euro-American counterparts (N = 142), regardless of instructor ethnicity. Their motives to communicate with their instructors for functional, excuse-making, and sycophantic reasons were greater than those for Euro-American students. Further, instructor verbal immediacy has a significant impact on African-American students' motives to communicate with their instructors for relational and participation purposes whereas instructor verbal and nonverbal immediacy has a negative impact on Euro-American students' motives to communicate for functional purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responding to Johnston's projections for the future of Australian Sign Language (Auslan), I analyzed school enrollments in American educational programs and found similar trends. There are fewer deaf and hard of hearing children in school now than twenty years ago, with the largest decline, approximately 50 percent, among children with profound hearing losses. Consistent with the Australian data, although to a smaller degree, increasing numbers of children are educated through oral-only means, have cochlear implants, and are placed in integrated settings. Despite these trends, Johnston's concerns for Auslan do not appear to apply to ASL, primarily because the American population, and, by extension, the American Deaf population, is fifteen times greater than that of Australia. Even with reductions in numbers a critical mass will remain. Secondly, the American Deaf community is heavily involved in education, more so than in any other country. The future of ASL and the American Deaf community is strong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses several issues on diversity and educational equality in the U.S. Comparison of the demographic and developmental aspects of the U.S. and China; Implication of the increase in U.S. population on educational equality; Strategies for achieving educational equality.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics indicate that Latinos lag behind non-Latinos in education and in other socioeconomic characteristics. Although there are some positive indications such as the decrease of individuals and children living in poverty and an increase in the number of individuals working in the technical, sales, and administrative support sectors, the increases have been small. Current census population estimates indicate that the Latino population will continue its very rapid rate of growth for the foreseeable future. An overview of salient sociodemographic characteristics of the Latino population, including educational attainment, poverty, immigration, family income, family size, family type, and language status is provided. The steady increase of this very youthful population makes it imperative that it receive an education that will provide it with the skills to make it a productive citizenry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the effect of the increase in the number and proportion of minorities in the U.S. on higher education in the country in the 21st century. Origin of immigrants to the U.S.; Patterns of population change; Implications for higher education services.

District-level studies of "White flight" have pointed to an acceleration of the decline in White enrollments while schools are being desegregated. The authors extend this work by exploring whether particular schools in nine desegregating districts were disproportionate contributors to these declines, using data for the 1968-84 period. The results suggest that several district-level and school-specific characteristics are associated with changes in White school enrollments, but provide little support for the idea that desegregation prompts resegregation. Furthermore, the inability to detect a temporal pattern in changes in enrollments indicates that school-enrollment patterns after desegregation resembled those before desegregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School systems across the country are crying out for leadership. Meanwhile, low-quality education and an increasing number of 'at-risk' children demand a new response to educating our youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]