Special Issue Editors’ Introduction

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, which led to a mass exodus of Vietnamese, Cambodian, Lao, and Hmong refugees from Southeast Asia. Many of these individuals eventually settled in the United States. This special issue of the Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement (JSAAEA) focuses primarily on the education of the children of these refugees. We are pleased to feature some of the best new research and thinking that aims to improve the education of the “new second generation” (Portes \u26 Rumbaut, 2006) of Southeast Asian American students

‘Fitting in’ in high school: how adolescent belonging is influenced by locus of control beliefs

Social interactions in the high school context are the source material for more enduring perceptions of fitting in for adolescents. Prior research demonstrates that perceptions of belonging relate to school engagement and academic outcomes. This study extends theories of adolescent belonging in school to highlight how individual differences in locus of control exist across adolescents' with disparate levels of belonging. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 adolescents. The methods of interpretive science were used to explore adolescent sense-making around navigating fitting in with peers. This analysis identified that adolescents' locus of control beliefs differed across levels of perceived belonging. Results provide evidence for both the need to account for individual differences in conceptualising adolescent belonging in school and the consideration of teaching practice and task structure when designing school-based interventions

Factors Supporting Academic Engagement Among Cambodian American High School Youth

This exploratory study examined the relationship between Cambodian American students’ (N = 77) attitudes and beliefs regarding school climate and school engagement. We examined engagement through two primary constructs: academic intrinsic motivation and future educational expectations. Four specific correlates of engagement were examined to understand the quality of Cambodian American students’ school engagement: sense of racial fairness; feelings of teacher support; perceptions of self-competence; and perceptions of positive classroom environment. Perceptions of self competence were positively associated with higher educational expectations. Our regression models found that students’ sense of positive classroom environment in addition to teacher support was important for motivation. Motivation and future academic expectations were also associated with students’ perceptions of their own academic self-competence. Implications for research and practice are discussed