This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Judit Kormos, Michael Anderson, Caroline E. Parker, Lilia D. Monzo, Kristin K. Liu, Gerard A. Postiglione, Veronica Martinez, Katie Ash, Elizabeth C. Ma, and Ronice Muller de Quadros.
(2012). Linguistic Policies, Linguistic Planning, and Brazilian Sign Language in Brazil, Sign Language Studies. This article explains the consolidation of Brazilian Sign Language in Brazil through a linguistic plan that arose from the Brazilian Sign Language Federal Law 10.436 of April 2002 and the subsequent Federal Decree 5695 of December 2005. Two concrete facts that emerged from this existing language plan are discussed: the implementation of bilingual education in regular state schools in the state of Santa Catarina and the creation of the e-learning undergraduate Brazilian Sign Language Program (known as Letras-Libras). It discusses a study on the impact of Brazilian language policies on the lives of deaf people enrolled at regular schools in the state of Santa Catarina, where Brazilian Portuguese is normally the teaching language. In this context, sign language is used as the instructional language for deaf students. By referring to information and opinions from the teachers themselves, the author looks at the various paths to a process that relies on the professional education of teachers who work in a bilingual context and which depends on the recognition of the bilingual status of Deaf students. She also discusses the Letras-Libras undergraduate program, which offers two degree options: bachelor's and "licenciado" (the latter is associated with the master's and PhD programs). This national program has had both a symbolic and a real impact on the effectiveness of language policies favorable to Brazilian Sign Language. She describes the symbolic, linguistic, and social consequences unleashed in Brazil by these undergraduate programs as part of ongoing language planning in the country. [More] Descriptors: Program Effectiveness, Professional Education, Bilingual Education, Linguistics
(2014). The Effectiveness of Special Education Programs for ELs, ProQuest LLC. The purpose of this research is to investigate the services and supports that EL students with special needs receive. It is a goal of this study also to determine which students achieve higher CST scores on the English Language Arts section, based on the supports that they receive and the programs in which they are placed. The researcher utilized a web-based survey distributed to 8 Bilingual Coordinators and 48 Special Education teachers, of whom 8 Bilingual Coordinators and 23 Special Education teachers responded. The surveys consisted of 27 questions regarding the services received by Special Education students who are also ELs. Three additional open-ended items were included. Four interviews were also conducted with two district-level specialist, one local district specialist, and a school administrator. Five conclusions based on the findings were determined. First, ELs are all placed into the programs and provided with the language support according to their IEPs. Second, teachers utilize SDAIE strategies when working with EL special needs students. Third, a scheduling issue has prevented students from being in an ESL class when their IEPs state that they should also be receiving one hour of support from the Special Education teacher. Fourth, different individuals are involved in making decisions about the services that EL students receive. Finally, there was no systematic difference between the scores of the RSP and SDC students on the CST ELA assessment. The study provides several implications for practitioners. Special Education teachers do not have the experience in bilingual education to fully understand the needs of EL special needs students. Scheduling problems existed when special needs students required an ESL class. This is significant for school leaders; if a barrier exists for EL special needs students being able to receive language support, then a solution to this issue needs to be found. Finally, parent participation is extremely important for IEP meetings and they need to be included in IEPs. Expanding this research should focus in more depth on the language supports that EL special needs students received, and whether SDAIE strategies are appropriate for EL special needs students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: Special Education, English Language Learners, English (Second Language), Special Education Teachers
(2008). Using Cultural Models to Unravel How Bilingual Teachers Enact Language Policies, Language and Education. There have been calls to examine how language policy is mediated at the local level. Although there have been studies that have foregrounded the local, there have yet to be those that look at how language policies become adopted by individual teachers through a process of their personal and professional socialisation. Through the framework of cultural models and using ethnographic methods, I examine how four novice bilingual Latino/a teachers in three different schools in the United States come to share a cultural model of dual language education. At the same time, I highlight how the differences in their adoption of a particular policy are constituted by both their personal and professional experiences as well as the organisational structures in which they find themselves in. This study contributes to the understanding of how language policies are adopted by bilingual classroom teachers as well as to the discussion of the future of bilingual education in the United States. [More] Descriptors: Language Planning, Bilingual Education, Ethnography, Bilingual Teachers
(2008). Universal Design Considerations for Improving Student Achievement on English Language Proficiency Tests, Assessment for Effective Intervention. This article studies accessible assessment design to large-scale English language proficiency assessments that are now mandatory for elementary and secondary English language learners in public schools. Using a modified Delphi approach, a panel of 33 experts from the areas of assessment, English as a second language or bilingual education, and special education provided feedback on features of accessible English language proficiency tests. Experts rated the importance of a set of accessible test design considerations suggested by the literature and were able to add and rate additional considerations suggested by their own experience. Considerations related to the creation of concise and readable text in assessment items received consistently high ratings overall. In contrast, considerations relating to the creation of test items that allow for format changes (e.g., Braille, oral presentation, sign language) showed the most variability in ratings. [More] Descriptors: Delphi Technique, Test Items, Sign Language, Bilingual Education
(2012). The Hope for Audacity: Public Identity and Equity Action in Education. Critical Education and Ethics. Volume 2, Peter Lang New York. "The Hope for Audacity: Public Identity and Equity Action in Education" calls for audacious action from the president and his administration as they attempt to guide educators, policymakers, as well as the general public in thinking critically about education. This book also discusses the role of education faculties in becoming more active agents of change. The authors argue that issues of equity and social justice for students in all schools cannot be overlooked if leaders want to make a positive difference in education and the lives of children and their families. "The Hope for Audacity: Public Identity and Equity Action in Education" includes the voices of diverse students and their teachers, including those of racial and linguistic minorities, the LGBTQ community, and students with disabilities. Through research and personal stories, this volume seeks to raise awareness of the needs of these communities so that their education can become a national priority. This book contains the following: (1) Foreword (Alice Merz and Lilia D. Monzo); (2) Introduction (Lilia D. Monzo and Alice Merz); (3) Middle-Class Latinos Opting for the American Creed: Stories of Hope (Margie Curwen); (4) A Wink or a Nod, Mr. President? A Call for the President's Consideration of Race (Lilia D. Monzo and Suzanne SooHoo); (5) Bilingual Education as an EEO: Educational Enrichment Opportunity for All (Anaida Colon-Muniz and Norma Valenzuela); (6) "Equality for All" Means Classrooms, Too (Anna V. Wilson, Veronica Bloomfield, and Ronald Lane); (7) Dear Mr. President: Please Keep Hope Alive for Students with Disabilities (Mary McNeil and Ann Nevin); (8) The Slow Death of the American Teacher (Debbie Tye, Ken Tye and Barbara Tye); (9) Teaching "Other People's Children" in the Obama Era: Challenges and Promises (Zeynep Isik-Ercan); (10) Making Space for Our Stories! Imagining a Democratic Classroom (Penny S. Bryan, Olivia Hayes et al.); and (11) Afterword (Suzanne SooHoo, Lilia D. Monzo, Alice Merz, and Barry Kanpol). [More] Descriptors: Social Justice, Race, Role, College Faculty
(2008). Phonological Short-Term Memory, Working Memory and Foreign Language Performance in Intensive Language Learning, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. In our research we addressed the question what the relationship is between phonological short-term and working memory capacity and performance in an end-of-year reading, writing, listening, speaking and use of English test. The participants of our study were 121 secondary school students aged 15-16 in the first intensive language training year of a bilingual education program in Hungary. The participants performed a non-word repetition test and took a Cambridge First Certificate Exam. Fifty students were also tested with a backward digit span test, measuring their working memory capacity. Our study indicates that phonological short-term memory capacity plays a different role in the case of beginners and pre-intermediate students in intensive language learning. The backward digit span test correlated very highly with the overall English language competence, as well as with reading, listening, speaking and use of English (vocabulary and grammar) test scores. [More] Descriptors: Speech Communication, Bilingual Education, Program Effectiveness, Short Term Memory
(2008). Education in Spotlight on Statewide Ballots, Education Week. Education issues are poised to break through the din of presidential politics and economic anxiety in more than a dozen states next month, as voters confront ballot questions and constitutional amendments involving K-12 policy and school finance. High on the list are gambling referendums in six states–Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, and Oregon–that would either create new revenue sources for public schools or alter the flow of gambling-related money earmarked for education. Aside from the gambling measures, some of the most contentious ballot questions may be in Oregon, where voters are being asked to put strict limits on bilingual education and tie teacher pay raises explicitly to classroom performance. Those proposals–along with another that critics say could slash the amount of state lottery revenue available for schools–have drawn fire from Oregon teachers' unions, which have given nearly $2.5 million to a coalition working to defeat the measures. [More] Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, Educational Finance, Educational Policy, Agenda Setting
(2010). A Comparative Study of Motivational Orientation of Elementary School English Learners in a Dual Language Immersion Program and a Transitional Bilingual Education Program, ProQuest LLC. The focus of this research is to compare the motivational orientation of English Learners in a Dual Language Immersion and a Transitional Bilingual Education program. These programs were chosen for several reasons. First, comparative studies on the various variables and constructs relating to English Learners in these two instructional models are not abundant. Second, various studies from Thomas and Collier (2002), Klesmer (1994), Ramirez et al (1991), Cummins (1981) concluded that Dual Language Immersion students had higher academic achievement. Thirdly, the question of whether the additive and subtractive models associate with different motivational outcomes for English Learners has not been adequately addressed. The result showed significant differences in DL students attributed higher task values to English language arts and reported higher self-efficacy in English grammar than those in the TBE Program. Second, DL teachers considered students' needs and cultures when lesson planning. Third, DL teachers used grouping much more. Fourth, DL teachers were more willing to allow students to have more autonomy, authority and were more flexible in decision-making and planning and in the use of time as outlined by the TARGET protocol. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: Comparative Analysis, Student Motivation, Elementary School Students, English (Second Language)
(2012). Advocacy-Orientated Teacher Education in New Gateway States, Teacher Education and Practice. The 1965 Immigration Act and its 1976 amendments paved the way for the fourth wave of immigration, the largest ever in U.S. history. From 1970 to 2010, about 35 million immigrants entered a postindustrial and service-oriented U.S. society. However, a new and striking trend of the fourth wave of immigration has swept rapidly beyond the coastal, traditional gateway states and spread into new gateway states, including some intermountain Western states, such as Nebraska, and Southern states, such as Georgia and North Carolina, which have a tradition of little to no immigration. Immigration-induced demographic shifts over the past 20 years have transformed U.S. schools significantly in many ways. The most apparent transformations are the faces of the children in the classrooms and the languages they tend to speak. An increasing number of school children are foreign born, from minority groups, and bi- or multilingual. Training and retraining teachers to work with immigrant students has always been a challenging task. As a former public school teacher and a professor of teacher education, the author believes that this task should include an advocacy-oriented approach that facilitates teachers' abilities to encourage and empower immigrant students, make collaborative reciprocal accommodations in the curriculum and their instruction, and advocate bilingual education programs and contextualized assessments. For effective advocacy, teachers should acknowledge, understand, and appreciate the differences that various groups bring to the community, make effective outreach efforts, and seek collaboration from various levels of government and organizations (Sleeter, 1996). In this article, the author argues why advocacy is imperative for teachers in new gateway states and to what extent this should be realized. [More] Descriptors: Immigrants, Human Geography, Population Growth, United States History
(2008). Making Tibetans in China: The Educational Challenges of Harmonious Multiculturalism, Educational Review. This discussant paper focuses on education in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), and provides a background to situate the articles that follow about education in selected Tibetan communities of China and India. It also provides a brief review of education policies concerning free basic education, bilingual education, and hinterland boarding schools. The paper argues that while enrolment rates in most parts of the TAR continue to rise, schools produce only mixed results. This is due to the widespread lack of quality learning environments that can promote a culturally diverse and locally relevant education to foster a harmonious multiculturalism and sustain Tibet's social and economic development. Only by doing so, will schools propel Tibetan academic achievement to levels comparable with the national average. Until then, the potential of education to help Tibetans live and work as critical and innovative thinkers in a rapidly changing market economy in the TAR and across China will remain limited. [More] Descriptors: Economic Development, Free Enterprise System, Boarding Schools, Bilingual Education
(2008). IDRA Newsletter. Volume 35, No. 10, November-December 2008, Intercultural Development Research Association. Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Enlightened Public Policy and includes: (1) Texas Education Policy: Prospects for 2009 (Albert Cortez); (2) Bilingual Education in Texas: Where It is Now, and What is Still Needed (Albert Cortez and Roy L. Johnson); (3) Presenting IDRA's Framework for Effective Instruction of Secondary English Language Learners (Maria Robledo Montecel); (4) The Power of Listening to Young Voices (Josie Danini Cortez); and (5) Creating Culturally Responsive Parent Engagement: Principal Shares Strategies for Success (Rosana G. Rodriguez, Rogelio Lopez del Bosque, and Abelardo Villarreal). Additional features include: Tools for Action; and Classnotes Podcast Episodes. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Second Language Learning, Educational Change, Public Policy
(2008). Globalization and Its Impact on the Medium of Instruction in Higher Education in Malaysia, International Education Studies. Understanding bilingualism in science and mathematics education and developing a principled instruction is a pressing issue in Malaysian system of education. With the implementation of government policy of teaching science and mathematics in English starting from year 2003, an increasing number of students are affected with this policy. An initial study has been undertaken to examine the view of instructors from two public universities in Malaysia. A total of 175 respondents comprise of professors, associate professors and lecturers from eleven faculties participated in the research. In the context of Malaysia, even though the dilemma was due to governmental initiatives, it is important to raise the consciousness of the bilingual educator and to liberate their view of bilingual education beyond a simple governmental definition or a single societal perspective. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Higher Education, Global Approach, Bilingualism
(2012). English Language Learners with Disabilities in Massachusetts: Current Status and Next Steps for Identification and Instruction. A Report to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Education Development Center, Inc.. While the overall student population in Massachusetts has dropped slightly in the last 10 years, the number of English language learners (ELLs) has increased by more than 50 percent. In April 2012, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MA DESE) contracted with researchers at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), to study current practices in identifying disabilities among ELLs and in meeting their instructional needs in schools and districts across the state. The study included an online survey sent to all directors of special education and directors and coordinators of English learner education programs in districts with ELLs, as well as in-depth qualitative interviews of district directors from five school districts, and principals and teachers from four schools. The survey was completed by special education and bilingual education leaders from 64 percent of Massachusetts' districts, which serve 94 percent of ELLs across the state. At the school level, administrators and teachers met with researchers. While everyone interviewed described facing many challenges in both identifying disabilities among ELLs and in meeting the instructional needs of ELLs with disabilities, almost all individuals also described concrete ways in which they are addressing the challenges, including both systems solutions and teaching strategies. The overall findings suggest that, although Massachusetts schools and districts face challenges in meeting the instructional needs of ELLs with disabilities–challenges that include articulating the role and fidelity of implementation of a tiered system of support for ELLs and improving the integration of ELL teachers and administrators in school and district collaborative structures–there are also many practices and processes led by highly committed individuals with extensive expertise, and they are using that expertise to meet the needs of these students. The following appendices are included: (1) Interview Protocols; (2) Online Survey; and (3) Glossary of Assessment Terms. [This document was written with the assistance of Maria Paz Avery, Diana Baker, Shai Fuxman, Anna Lingan, Claudia Rinaldi, Maria Teresa Sanchez, and Michelle Schamberg.] [More] Descriptors: English Language Learners, Disabilities, Disability Identification, Special Education
(2008). Trying to Meet the Demands of English in a Global Market: A Critical Discussion of the National Bilingual Programme in Colombia, International Education Studies. This paper provides a critical analysis of the National Bilingual Programme in Colombia. It considers how and why it aims to extend the teaching of "a" foreign language in Primary and Secondary school in 1994, to the teaching of English to an internationally recognized standard in all sectors of education by 2019, while at the same time attempting to promote the bilingual education of the Creole and Amerindian speaking sections of the population. It suggests that although some of the aims of the programme are being met, the contexts in which it is being implemented are too diverse and the aims too broad for the programme to be implemented successfully in its current state. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Bilingual Education Programs, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning
(2008). Mexicans in the Pacific Northwest: Lesson from Progressive School Leaders for Progressive Educational Policy, Journal of Educational Research & Policy Studies. Latinos now live and work in areas of the United States where they have not been before. These changes impact schools in a variety ways. This article reviews recent research on how communities have responded in the South, New England and the West with a primarily assimilationist approach including English-only policies. The article then provides a description of one school district's response in the Pacific Northwest. This school district's progressive leadership provides guidance for progressive educational policy. The author concludes with a recommendation that the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 that No Child Left Behind eclipsed be reinstated to guide the nation in these changing times. [More] Descriptors: Public Schools, Federal Legislation, Bilingual Education, School Districts