Minority and Mainstream Children's Development and Academic Achievement ― An Alternative Research and Educational View

Schools never served just one ethnic group in the US. Waves of immigrants came through for hundreds of years, but the system was designed to assimilate as much as to teach, and the result was a fantasy--a national school system in which everyone was supposed to be white and no one's name ended in a vowel. Many in the US education system have caught up with the reality of an ethnically and linguistically diverse student population, yet the urge to assimilate rather than teach still lingers. This collection of essays gives an alternative framework so teaching students, teachers and administrators can take both diversity and development into account. Topics cover the socioeconomic factors affecting minority and mainstream students' development as well as alternate research approaches to such issues as classroom behaviors, family structures and perceptions of school, assessment methods, academic resilience, and gifted children. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Virginia Gonzalez Ph. D. is Professor of Education at the University of Cincinnati. She has an interdisciplinary professional and academic background, with an M.A. in Bilingual Special Education and a Ph. D. in Educational Psychology, both from The University of Texas at Austin. She was formerly a faculty member at Texas A&M University and at The University of Arizona. She is an expert in bilingual education. One of Dr. Gonzalez's major areas of expertise is the development of research models that explain cognitive and linguistic development in Hispanic students who have learned English as a Second Language (ESL). These models have implications in assessment, learning processes, and instructional programs. Dr. Gonzalez has published multiple books and journal articles concerning these areas.