Bonnita et al:

Regarding your question about Asian students and success, there is
research done by John Ogbu about this. Ogbu argues that there different
kind of minority groups. He refers to voluntary and involuntary
minorities. Voluntary minorities are those that came into the US
voluntarily in search of a better life. Children from Voluntary
minorities tend to do very well in school. Parents tend to push the kids
to succeed. Usually, children of immigrants from other countries tend to
do very well in school. They will do even better if they were already
doing well in school in their native countries.  

Involuntary minorities are those that were born into a devalued minority
status in the US. Ogbu identifies Chicanos and blacks as examples of two
involuntary minorities. According to Ogbu, when Chicano and black
children go to school, they face a dilemma. If they learn the standard
English and they learn the rules of hegemonic America, they have to
unlearn the language and culture of their families and community. This
puts children in a dilemma. They either begin to act "whitie" and
succeed in hegemonic America, or reject the hegemonic values and stick
to their own sociocultural group. 

There are other reasons for certain groups to do better than others in
school. I will not get into the details right now, but they are more
complex than just praise. 

Andres