Asians get higher ENTERs - Research

[brendan]

Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth, Research Report Number 22, TERTIARY ENTRANCE PERFORMANCE: THE ROLE OFSTUDENT BACKGROUND AND SCHOOL FACTORS, Australian Council for Educational Research, 2001
http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/LSAY_lsay22.pdf

"Students classified as ?Asian? perform substantially better than students whose fathers were born in Australia."

"Across the States the pattern was similar. Students from Asian backgrounds perform better than students whose fathers were born in Australia, although the difference was less pronounced in South Australia."

"Year 9 achievement cannot explain the high performance of Asian students in Year 12. Their tertiary entrance performance is well above what was expected given their Year 9 achievement scores."

"For the 'Asia' group, socioeconomic differences only very partially explain their higher performance"

"the tertiary entrance performance of the ?Asia? group cannot be attributed to socioeconomic background or prior school achievement."

[Ahmad]

I'm from an Asian background. I agree Asians perform well, even with VCE English in place.

[enwiabe]

It's mainly a migrant effect.

When the Jews fled Europe, the parents were largely unskilled. I know my grandfather was a lawyer in Germany before the Third Reich ripped up his practising license. In Australia, his law degree meant nothing and he was a construction worker. The onus on my father to do well and get into medicine was quite large due to my grandparents' sacrifice. This was very widespread and indeed, in the matriculatory years from the 50s-70s Jews were doing very well because they were pushed to work by their migrant parents who wanted their sacrifice in suffering through the war and coming to Australia to be worthwhile. This actually happened worldwide and is the reason for the disproportionate figures of Jewish doctors in the medical profession

The same is happening with Asiatic migrants. Many Asian adults are giving up their lives in their countries to come to Australia to give their children the better quality of life that Australia offers. They push their kids to work because they want the sacrifice to have 'paid off' so to speak. To give their kids every opportunity. After all, many come with less than a pittance.

I don't want to get into any nasty stereotyping but this does tend to happen. When you sacrifice so much to bring your family to another country and start anew, one avenue of seeing the sacrifice be a success is in the children succeeding academically and thus there is a greater onus upon them to do well than say Joe Smith of Wantirna who is an 8th generation Aussie whose parents are more than happy to see him get his VCE pass and do what he wants. It comes down to a differing set of values, really.

[Ahmad]

I can only speak for myself, but that didn't happen for me. I can see where you're coming from though. I reckon jews would be pretty much up there with the asians, and I'm not sure attributing this to migration does justice. Maybe we're just pwn?

Don't want to sound racist or anything lol, sorry if I've offended anyone.

[brendan]

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/04/19/1019020708130.html
"Professor Miraca Gross, director of the Gifted Education Research, Resource and Information Centre at the University of NSW, has dealt with gifted students for several decades. She says students selected were not simply those who could successfully complete a "tick-a-box" test.

"It's a kid who's been performing extremely well and able to cope with the advanced and fast-paced work in selective high schools," she said.

Gross said students from immigrant backgrounds - Jewish in earlier years and East Asian in more recent times - shared a common factor, she said. There was almost a worship of work which was nowhere near as evident in students from an Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Celtic background.

"There's a kind of wanting to honour the potential that one has and wanting to take in knowledge - it's almost a worship of learning," she said.

Citing a Confucian notion that it was a pleasure to learn and regularly review things already learnt, Professor Gross said people imbued with a Confucian ethic absorbed education like food and drink.

"For them, learning is not artificially confined to the period of 8.30am to 3.30pm Monday to Friday," she said.

"This is very far from the Australian, laid-back, 'it's cool to be a fool' ... approach.""

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/04/24/1019441263079.html
This article talks about people whinging about there being "too many" asians in selective schools. This topic ususally brings out the wrost in Australians -  downright envy, racism and tall-poppy syndrome.  

"Many other correspondents complained the arguments about selective schools reflected little more than middle-class angst from parents of Anglo background whose own kids weren't prepared to work hard enough to be competitive."

'Raising the bar for high achievers'
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/raising-the-bar-for-high-achievers/2007/04/23/1177180569502.html

'Hard work beats self-love'
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/hard-work-beats-selflove/2007/07/20/1184560038612.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

'Hidden talents'
http://www.theage.com.au/news/education-news/hidden-talents/2006/02/24/1140670263609.html?page=fullpage

[melanie.dee]

ok im not asian so i duno, but id agree with the migrant, working hard, parent pressure factor thing.. i got into macrob and went there, and the pressure on lots of them by their parents was incredible compared to some of the caucasions. obviously thats generalising a bit but hey the whole topic saying asians perform better is generalising in a way, so you cant really answer it in any other way.

anyway yeh it seemed to me like a lot of it was their parents high values of hard work and education etc. they'd all studied their asses off the macrob entrance exam (er i didnt even know you could study for an exam like that.. found out that everyone besides me had tutors and stuff for it once i got there! ), their parents were incredibly strict with homework and study, not going out. just really different priorities and values i suppose. and wanting to live up to those, since their parents sacrificed a lot to get there i suppose

[Toothpaste]

Asians.

C/C+ - WHY DID I GIVE BIRTH TO YOU LAH.

B - Stupid, go be a slave Leh.

B+ - Stupid, you put shame on our family honor Ah.

A - Where's the A+ Loh? Not good enough. Your -somwhatrelatedcousin- did better than you.

A+ - Where's the 99.95 Lah? How come no 99.95?

99.95 - You better do medicine or law. Don't waste it Leh! Go to Harvard Ah!

Nothing is ever good enough.

This is how they show love.

[enwiabe]

What on earth is "Leh"?

[Toothpaste]

Don't worry you non-Asian leh.

[Ahmad]

Check out this on asians, funny stuff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKnloiM-0Ns

[enwiabe]

Don't worry you non-Asian leh.

... Tell me or I'm banning you.

[Toothpaste]

I no speak English leh.

[enwiabe]

10 minutes till banny banny

[melanie.dee]

ahah! lah reminds me of when i used to live in singapore such a useful, versatile piece of language apparently haha

[Odette]

Leh is also used in arabic