Can School Diversity Policies Reduce Belonging and Achievement Gaps Between Minority and Majority Youth? Multiculturalism, Colorblindness, and Assimilationism Assessed.

European societies and schools face the challenge of accommodating immigrant minorities from increasingly diverse cultural backgrounds. In view of significant belonging and achievement gaps between minority and majority groups in school, we examine which diversity approaches are communicated by actual school policies and which approaches predict smaller ethnic gaps in student outcomes over time. To derive diversity approaches, we content-analyzed diversity policies from (n = 66) randomly sampled Belgian middle schools. Cluster analysis yielded different approaches valuing, ignoring, or rejecting cultural diversity in line with multiculturalism, colorblindness, and assimilationism, respectively. We estimated multilevel path models that longitudinally related diversity approaches to (N = 1,747) minority and (N = 1,384) majority students' school belonging and achievement (self-reported grades) 1 year later. Multiculturalism predicted smaller belonging and achievement gaps over time; colorblindness and assimilationism were related to wider achievement and belonging gaps, respectively. Longitudinal effects of colorblindness on achievement were mediated by (less) prior school belonging.

Minority Adolescents in Ethnically Diverse Schools: Perceptions of Equal Treatment Buffer Threat Effects.

Can perceptions of equal treatment buffer the negative effects of threat on the school success of minority students? Focusing on minority adolescents from Turkish and Moroccan heritage in Belgium (Mage  = 14.5; N = 735 in 47 ethnically diverse schools), multilevel mediated moderation analyses showed: (a) perceived discrimination at school predicted lower test performance; (b) experimentally manipulated stereotype threat decreased performance (mediated by increased disengagement); (c) perceived equal treatment at school predicted higher performance (mediated by decreased disengagement); and (d) personal and peer perceptions of equal treatment buffered negative effects of discrimination and stereotype threat. Thus, (situational) stereotype threat and perceived discrimination at school both undermine minority student success, whereas perceived equal treatment can provide a buffer against such threats.

Minority acculturation and peer rejection: Costs of acculturation misfit with peer-group norms.

How do minority adolescents' personal acculturation preferences and peer norms of acculturation affect their social inclusion in school? Turkish and Moroccan minority adolescents (N = 681) reported their preferences for heritage culture maintenance, mainstream culture adoption, and their experiences of peer rejection as a key indicator of adjustment problems. Additionally, we aggregated peer acculturation norms of maintenance and adoption within ethnically diverse classrooms (N = 230 in 50 Belgian schools), distinguishing between co-ethnic (Turkish or Moroccan classmates only, N = 681) and cross-ethnic norms (also including N = 1,930 other classmates). Cross-ethnic peer-group norms (of adoption and maintenance) and co-ethnic norms (of maintenance, marginally) predicted minority experiences of peer rejection (controlling for ethnic composition). Moreover, misfit of minorities' own acculturation preferences with both cross-ethnic and co-ethnic peer-group norms was harmful. When cross-ethnic norms stressed adoption, 'integrationist' minority youth - who combined culture adoption with maintenance - experienced most peer rejection. Yet, when co-ethnic peers stressed maintenance, 'assimilationist' minority youth experienced most rejection. In conclusion, acculturation misfit with peer-group norms is a risk factor for minority inclusion in ethnically diverse environments.

Metabolites from the aerial parts of the Sicilian population of Artemisia alba.

Phytochemical investigation of the CH2Cl2 extract of the aerial parts of Artemisia alba Turra afforded one new irregular sesquiterpenoid, artemiric acid, and five known metabolites: hydroxydavanone, the coumarins isofraxidin and scopoletin, (6S*, 7S*,10R*)-6,10 -dimethyl-7,10-epoxyocta-11-enoic acid and artalbic acid. From the MeOH extract three flavonoids were identified: chrysoeriol, quercetin and isorhamnetin. The possible biogenetic pathways of artemiric and artalbic acids are discussed.