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Samira Moosa (left) and Dr. Stuart Karabenick, Department
of Psychology, Eastern Michigan University (right)
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Arab students are the largest growing minority in Michigan schools.
Because Michigan and other states in the U.S. are struggling to
learn how best to serve Arab families and their children, Samira
Moosa, director of the Educational Research Center at Sultan Qaboos
University in Muscat, Oman, decided it would be valuable to research
ways in which schools and communities could reach out to Arab
families to help their children succeed in the American school
system.
"Immigrants to any country face numerous adjustment problems
especially in child rearing and issues relating to their children's
education," she points out.
Moosa studied teacher perceptions of Arab parents' involvement
in elementary schools in collaboration with faculty at Eastern
Michigan University (EMU). EMU was selected in part because of
its proximity to the second largest Arab community in the U.S.
Her research focused particularly on teachers' beliefs and misconceptions
about parent involvement, attitudes and practices regarding their
children's education. The study also examined parents' communication
styles and teacher efficacy with Arab students and their families.
In addition to her research she presented papers at national
conferences on such issues as similarities and differences in
education between the Middle East and the United States and on
working effectively with Arab families.
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