This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Masahiko Minami, Mari Riojas-Cortez, Ellen R. Clark, Sheila M. Shannon, Belinda J. Box, Fernanda Morales, Cultural Survival, Belinda B. Flores, Christine Sims, and Rafael Lara-Alecio.
(2002). The NAMTA Montessori Bibliography and Research Guide. Third Edition, NAMTA Journal. Catalogs Montessori citations in the literature. References are divided by over 100 topic areas, including child development; activities; administration; classroom management; special education; bilingual education; gifted and talented education; Head Start; history-social studies; language arts; mathematics; organization news and information; Montessori method; parent education; practical life; reviews of research; standards; and television. Descriptors: Bibliographies, Bilingual Education, Child Development, Citations (References)
(2002). Parents Choose Dual Language Programs in Colorado: A Survey, Bilingual Research Journal. A study examined parental support for bilingual education in the face of political debate. Surveys of 1,043 parents of children attending 10 dual-language programs in Colorado found that parents understood the purpose of these programs, freely chose the programs, and believed they were effective. Spanish-speaking parents responded more positively than English-speaking parents. (Contains 23 references.) Descriptors: Educational Attitudes, Elementary Education, English Only Movement, Language Minorities
(2008). Accelerating Early Academic Oral English Development in Transitional Bilingual and Structured English Immersion Programs, American Educational Research Journal. The authors examined the effectiveness of a 2-year (kindergarten and first grade) oral English intervention provided to 534 Hispanic English-language learners in transitional bilingual education (TBE) and structured English immersion (SEI) programs. Using latent growth modeling, the authors compared instructional programs in relation to growth trajectories and rates in academic English oracy. The findings revealed that students in all four programs (treatment TBE, control TBE, treatment SEI, and control SEI) improved significantly (p less than 0.05) in a linear pattern over 2 years, and students receiving the intervention developed at a faster rate than those receiving typical instruction (p less than 0.05, effect sizes greater than 0.46). The authors concluded that (a) first-language instruction did not impede the learning of a second language, and (b) enhancements and best practices in TBE and SEI programs are needed to accelerate oral English acquisition to remove the initial disadvantage of low levels of English proficiency. [More] Descriptors: Intervention, Immersion Programs, Bilingual Education, Effect Size
(2004). Does NCLB Leave the U.S. behind in Bilingual Teacher Education?, English Education. In this article, the author explores the possible future for bilingual teachers and teacher educators in the United States in light of the recently enacted No Child Left Behind legislation. She first examines the impact of the law on bilingual education generally and compare it to language policy in the European Union. Then she discusses its impact on bilingual teachers and teacher educators specifically. She also talks about monolingualism in the U.S. vs. plurilingualism in Europe. Among other things, she examines the case at the University of San Francisco, in order to illustrate the impact. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Federal Legislation, Teacher Educators, Monolingualism
(2008). Transformative Education for Culturally Diverse Learners through Narrative and Ethnography, Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies. This article presents a study of the effects of creating a bridge between the narrative and ethnographic methods and writing processes as a means to more effectively educate teachers of culturally diverse learners. Ten teacher participants from a Masters of Education (M.Ed.) degree program in Bilingual Education at a university in the northwestern United States took a sequence of courses in which instructor-researchers taught them narrative and ethnographic pedagogy, theory, and methodology. Through qualitative methods, instructor-researchers analyzed teacher participants' personal narratives and ethnographic case studies for generative themes. In discovering the commonalities of themes between these two methods of inquiry, the research reveals the value and transformative nature of building a bridge between narrative and ethnographic methods. The following overlapping generative themes were voiced by teacher participants: (1) awareness of self and others; (2) consciousness of educational issues and their implications; (3) transformative action and advocacy. These themes are substantiated with related literature and further elucidated upon in the paper. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Ethnography, Writing Processes, Research Methodology
(2008). The Contradictions of High-Stakes Accountability "Success": A Case Study of Focused Leadership and Performance Agency, International Journal of Leadership in Education. This article seeks to advance the discussion of the availability of contemporary notions of school leadership for school leaders working within high-stakes accountability reform environment that produce discourses of urgency and legitimize practices of performance that implicitly favour centralized, neo-Tayloristic managerial approaches. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in a school community largely populated by Latino and immigrant youth, I portray a school replete with discourses of urgency and practices of performance which emphasize control and tight coupling. I suggest that an anti-pluralistic, assimilationist and subtractive stance towards the schools' bilingual education programme implicitly gained credence and undercut the school community's commitment to a culture and language as an asset orientation. In this context the school leadership and community felt constrained in their earnest commitment to democratic and pluralistic notions of school leadership. As such, this article provides a case on which to map and theorize how tightly coupled administration and control orientations of leadership flourish in a performance-oriented context. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Accountability, Instructional Leadership, Principals
(1976). Meeting the Needs of the Bilingual Child. A Historical Perspective of the Nation's First Transitional Bilingual Education Law: Chapter 71A of the Acts of 1971, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This booklet is designed for those interested in an overview of the past five years of progress in bilingual education in Massachusetts. Topics discussed include the need for bilingual education; reasons for the development of bilingual education programs specifically in Massachusetts; the contribution of individuals in the writing of the bilingual education laws; the rationale for transitional bilingual education, as opposed to other forms of bilingual education; program implementation; and future prospects for bilingual education in Massachusetts. A directory of members of the Massachusetts Advisory Council on Bilingual Education concludes the booklet. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingual Students, Educational Legislation, Elementary Secondary Education
(2008). Dual Language Implementation in Eight Texas Elementary Schools, ProQuest LLC. The increasing number of English language learners in schools has motivated educators to seek more effective language and instructional programs to serve them. While the norm in American schools favors an English-only environment, there is a growing interest and support for the dual language approach to bilingual education. This qualitative study examined the experiences and perspectives of practicing principals in Texas elementary schools with dual language programs. Interviews with eight purposefully selected participants focused on factors that were experienced in the planning and implementation phase. The responses were aggregated to reveal recommendations for principals regarding initial program selection, planning and preparation activities, challenges to program implementation, challenges to program maintenance, and finally, the desirable leadership qualities to support a successful dual language implementation. Narrative techniques were utilized to discern recurring themes or strands of leadership behaviors that were presented as recommendations for practicing school leaders. The recurring themes were trust, perseverance, cultural competence and vision. [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: Elementary Schools, Bilingual Education, Leadership Qualities, Program Implementation
(2008). Assessing the Language Proficiency of Tribal Heritage Language Learners: Issues and Concerns for American Indian Pueblo Languages, Current Issues in Language Planning. Among American Indian Pueblo tribes, community-based language revitalisation initiatives have been established in response to a growing language shift towards English. This has been most prominent among school age children, prompting some tribes to extend tribal language programmes into local public schools. For centuries, the transmission of Pueblo Indian languages has depended solely on oral language traditions. This continues to be the foundation for tribal language initiatives with the primary goal being that of maintaining language and culture. The socio-cultural aspects of language use in family and community provide the context for language instruction in these programmes. Several of these programmes, recently established in schools, receive supplemental funding provided through state bilingual education funds. However, this has also ushered in new requirements for assessing the native language proficiency of students participating in these programmes, thereby creating new challenges for Pueblo communities who have focused their efforts on oral language maintenance. One issue this has raised concerns the purpose for language proficiency assessments and how such practices differ with respect to tribal goals for language instruction. This paper describes several of these issues from the perspective of Pueblo language communities and the potential social impact of language assessment practices on tribal language programmes. [More] Descriptors: Language Maintenance, American Indians, Bilingual Education, Oral Language
(2008). Mediated Learning Experiences for ELLs, Online Submission. This paper addresses elements of the bilingual program for English language learners (ELL) in Illinois School District U-46 (U-46). Beginning with the context of bilingual education in the United States, the paper also introduces the current state of bilingual programming in U-46. ELL initiatives in light of the U-46 partnership with the Stupski foundation (from 2002- 2007) are highlighted and 2007 results (the most recent available) are reported. An on-going ELL initiative involving creating mediated learning experiences (MLEs) for ELLs using Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) program is reviewed. The initiative is tied to relevant theories and details of the relevant concepts are introduced. Relevant research concerning both MLEs and the FIE program are summarized. Details of the first year of the pilot study are shared, along with recommendations for continued implementation for the second year. Interviews with four ELL professionals from the district are provided for comments on the ELL program as a whole and on the MLE and FIE program initiatives. The paper concludes with a brief summary and recommendations for ongoing intervention and research. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Second Language Learning, Enrichment, English (Second Language)
(2002). You Can't Have a Rainbow without a Tormenta: A Description of an IHE's Response to a Community Need for a Dual-Language School, Bilingual Research Journal. A local university worked with a Texas elementary school serving mostly Mexican Americans to implement a two-way bilingual program, provide inservice and graduate course work for faculty, provide parent training, connect with the community, and provide field experiences for undergraduate bilingual education teachers. Test scores and community attitudes towards the school have improved. (Contains 61 references.) Descriptors: Affiliated Schools, Bilingual Teachers, Case Studies, College School Cooperation
(2008). Native Language Proficiency, English Literacy, Academic Achievement, and Occupational Attainment in Limited-English-Proficient Students: A Latent Growth Modeling Perspective, Journal of Educational Psychology. The hypothesis that native language (L1) proficiency promotes English acquisition and overall academic achievement, a key theoretical assumption underlying bilingual education, was tested using latent growth modeling of data from 899 limited-English-proficient (LEP) eighth graders who were followed for 12 years in the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88/2000). A model in which L1 proficiency predicted English (L2) reading ability, which in turn predicted high school achievement and distal educational/occupational attainment, fit the data well for the full LEP sample and a Hispanic subsample. In Hispanics, the model explained 24.1%, 7.4%, 29.4%, and 46.3% of the variance in initial English reading level, English reading growth, high school achievement, and post-high school attainment, respectively. Model fit for an Asian subsample, however, was poor. Possible reasons for lack of group invariance include cultural differences in construct conceptualization, greater linguistic and cultural heterogeneity within the Asian subgroup, and cross-language transfer difficulties when L1 and L2 lack a shared alphabetic structure. At least for Hispanic LEP students, this study's results establish the theoretical foundation for exploring the effectiveness of specific educational interventions. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Academic Achievement, Reading Ability, Grade 8
(2002). "Bilingualism in Development: Language, Literacy, and Cognition," by Ellen Bialystok. Book Review, Bilingual Research Journal. This book assembles a wide range of research on children's language development, interprets it with analyses of how bilingualism affects that development, and, above all, breaks the myths surrounding bilingualism and bilingual education. The urgency about introducing language minority children to English immediately in schools, and about mainstreaming them as early as possible has no basis in fact. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Book Reviews, Child Development
(2008). Observations on the State of Indigenous Human Rights in Light of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Guatemala. Since the 1996 Peace Accords ended the Guatemalan civil war, the country has made strides to legally recognize the rights of its indigenous peoples and has criminalized racial discrimination. However, political exclusion, discrimination, and economic marginalization of indigenous peoples still regularly occur due to the lack of resources and political will to stop them. Precarious land tenure, delays in land restitution, disproportionately extreme poverty, and geographical remoteness result in indigenous Guatemalans having less access to healthcare, clean water, and security, and lower living standards than the country's "Ladino" population. Most indigenous children do not have access to bilingual education. Many crimes against indigenous peoples are not investigated or go unpunished; by comparison, indigenous leaders are frequently attacked or prosecuted for defending their claims to their lands. The government needs to energetically address discrimination, and to take steps to secure land rights and economic equality for its indigenous peoples. It also needs to strengthen the rule of law and increase indigenous access to effective legal remedies, and to or extradite prosecute those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the country's civil war. [More] Descriptors: Cultural Maintenance, Public Health, Violence, Water Quality
(2008). Building and Destroying Students' "Academic Identities": The Power of Discourse in a Two-Way Immersion Classroom, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE). Two-way immersion is a model for bilingual education designed to help language-minority students develop additive bilingualism while at the same time offering language-majority students a chance to learn a second language. There is a great deal of rhetoric around two-way immersion that claims these programs aim to improve overall equity among diverse groups of learners. The article begins with a brief review of the available research on two-way immersion education. Then, using Bakhtin's concept of "dialogue" and Bourdieu's and Gee's ideas of "discourse/Discourse", this article takes a close-up look at the discourse patterns in one second-grade two-way immersion classroom in Northern California, with an eye to uncovering how the teacher deliberately attempts to expose students to "alternative" discourses and to lead language-minority students to construct positive identities as learners. The ultimate question the article attempts to address is whether and to what extent any classroom program can create lasting change in the larger society through exposing students to "alternatives" to mainstream dominant discourses within the context of classroom norms and activities. [More] Descriptors: Immersion Programs, Bilingual Education, Elementary School Students, Self Concept