“Understanding Factors Affecting the Academic Achievement of Chinese Immigrant & Chinese-American Students”

NEW YORK, NY – November 30, 2010 –  In early November, Metropolitan College of New York (MCNY) brought together some of the most preeminent thought leaders in education, Asian Studies and Chinese community affairs for an innovative discussion about “Understanding Factors Affecting the Academic Achievement of Chinese Immigrant and Chinese-American Students.”  An important phenomenon is only starting to be recognized – that, contrary to the stereotype of Asian students, many Chinese immigrant and Chinese-American students are doing badly in school. This conference and panel discussion explored the cultural, social, linguistic and economic factors and differences that affect the success of both Chinese immigrant and Chinese-American students in the U.S educational system.

MCNY aims to accelerate discussion of this emerging topic by posting videos of the panel discussions where interested educators and community leaders from all over the country can view them.  This webpage on the MCNY website (www.mcny.edu/chineseeducationconference) also contains a conference program, links to useful resources,  and a PDF of an important study of the problem, “Achievement Motivation Among Chinese Immigrant and Chinese American Students: Examining Cultural, Psychosocial and SocioHistorical Contexts” authored by Dr. Jennifer Jun-Li Chen of Kean University.

 Panelists included a who’s who of the education and Asian cultural affairs community including Dr. Lindsay Hu and Dr. Leonard Golubchick, MCNY; Dr. Lynda Kennedy, New York Public Library; Beatrice Chen, Museum of Chinese in America; Peter Gee, Asian Americans for Equality and Mitchell Wu, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families. Discussions topics were: “What is the Chinese Immigrant and Chinese American Experience?” “How Do We Promote Academic Success?” and “It Takes A Community To Raise A Child: What Are The Resources?”

MCNY is located in lower Manhattan and the students in its Masters of Science in Education program frequently do their practice teaching in Chinatown schools.  Since its founding in the idealism of 1964, MCNY’s curriculum has been designed to develop active citizens armed with a commitment to social justice and experience in addressing real world challenges.

 For resources on “Understanding Factors Affecting the Academic Achievement of Chinese Immigrant and Chinese-American Students” please visit http://www.mcny.edu/chineseeducationconference

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