NCJ Number
128825
Date Published
1988
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the education of minority students in non-urban schools emphasizes factors that may influence the achievement of minority students and concludes that non-urban schools can better meet the challenge of educating minority students by reorienting the thinking of their staffs and developing appropriate strategies and programs.
Abstract
The achievement of minority students is influenced by three factors: (1) cultural values, (2) self-esteem and the level of control over the environment, and (3) tools for learning and the way they process information. However, unlike urban students, non-urban minority students are in a school where their culture, values, and attitudes may differ significantly from those of most of their classmates. Therefore, nonurban schools should create environments that are more accepting of the different values of minority students by increasing the presence of minority role models, providing staff development for teachers, developing tutoring centers, and designing classroom activities that have the more able students helping their less able peers. Tables showing data from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, descriptions of specific programs, and 53 references