Drawing Parallels in Search of Educational Equity: A Multicultural Education Delegation to China Looks Outside to See Within

In 2004, a professional delegation of multicultural educators visited the People's Republic of China to explore how diversity issues are addressed and how students are prepared for entry into the international workforce. The delegation, sponsored by the People to People Ambassador Programs, observed numerous parallels to the American system of education, including the challenge of providing equity for students of minority cultures, especially those in poor rural areas, and the conflict between modernization and preservation of cultural heritage.     

A tale of two students: Building a culture of engagement in the community college

Enrolling in a community college may be as intimidating for those students who eventually succeed as it is for those who don't. Why, then, do some persevere while others leave before they meet their goals? Institutional practice can tip the balance.     

Why Teach? Motives for Teaching Revisited

The 1960s saw a rapid expansion of teacher education in Singapore. This was followed by an attempt to ensure quality teacher education, beginning with the establishment of the Institute of Education in 1973. The Institute was established to take over the responsibilities of teacher preparation and educational research, functions which were performed by the Teachers' Training College, the School of Education of the University of Singapore and the Research Unit of the Ministry of Education. Since its establishment, the Institute has provided pre-service training for some 6000 teachers, both non-graduates and graduates. In addition to these, some fifteen thousand teachers have gone through in-service courses of one kind or another at the Institute over the past decade (Lun and Chan, 1983). The above facts show the concern with and effort dedicated to the improvement of teacher quality in Singapore.     

Professors' and teachers' views of competencies necessary for mainstreaming

College professors' and classroom teachers' views of competencies necessary for mainstreaming were compared for II categories of competencies (75 competencies in all). The results indicate that teachers attach more importance to the set of competencies than do professors; there were significant differences between the two groups on approximately one-third of the items. In all cases, the teachers thought the competency was more important than did the professors. Means of the II categories were rankordered for both groups. Differences in rank were nonexistent or slight for most of the items. The three items on which there was a four-point difference in rank were: goalsetting and curriculum development (viewed as more important by the professors), and communication and assessing students' needs (viewed as more important by the teachers).     

HANDICAPPED STUDENT SATISFACTION

This study was undertaken to investigate the relationships between selected student characteristics and measures of perceived campus and support service satisfaction of handicapped students enrolled in three comprehensive community colleges in Missouri. It was expected that specific information could be provided for decision making at the participating institutions regarding the handicapped student with special consideration to campus factors and support services. Significant correlations were found between students’ usage of specific services and their satisfaction with campus environments in general. Those specific services include: vocational evaluation, vocational counseling, instructional modification, and consumer services. Significant correlations were found between students’ usage of support services and their satisfaction with those services. High usage‐high satisfaction services included: learning centers, tutors, counseling, instruction modification, test arrangement, career exploration, job placement, equipment modification, notetakers, readers, and writers. Handicapped students used and were satisfied with the majority of services provides.