Hong Kong is a predominantly Chinese society but just over 6 percent of the population is made up of ethnic minorities. This composition flows into schools where teachers in selected schools need to cater for a diverse school population. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether assessment environments in Hong Kong schools are able to cater for the learning motivation of ethnic minority students as well as their Chinese peers. Students were surveyed to gain an understanding of the assessment practices they experienced as well as their own learning motivation goals. The results indicated that both Chinese and ethnic minority students experienced teacher-dominated assessment environments most often, and each group strongly endorsed learning motivation goals that stressed academic development and competence. Both groups of students provided moderate support for social learning goals, with somewhat stronger support coming from ethnic minority students. Teachers can build on ethnic minority students' strong learning orientation by providing high-quality feedback even in a teacher-dominated assessment environment. A more interactive classroom characterised by feedback may provide teachers with a better idea of the learning needs of all students.
[Copyright © 2015 NZCER Press.]

There is a growing body of literature highlighting issues concerning current educational provision for ethnic minority students in Hong Kong. The popular media is also featuring these issues. In addition, the Equal Opportunities Commission has formally notified the Education Bureau of its concerns about the education of ethnic minority students. This article reviews a range of issues and concerns that have been raised regarding educational provision for ethnic minority students in Hong Kong. It particularly raises the issue of "out of school" ethnic minority children in Hong Kong. To date, most of the existing literature has been on ethnic minority students who are already in the school. Yet a careful analysis of the reports and tables published from the 2006 census data suggests that a good number of ethnic minority children are probably not in school, including pre-primary, lower secondary, upper secondary and post-secondary age groups. Despite the fact that some legislation is in place to protect the educational rights of ethnic minority children in Hong Kong, they are nevertheless facing a number of issues and challenges inside school. In addition, the fact that ethnic minority children are "out of school" raises new issues about access and equity in Hong Kong's education system.
[Copyright © Hong Kong Educational Research Association].