This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Martial Dembele, Carol Evans, Tom T. Stritikus, Janka Szilagyi, Pulane Lefoka, Maria Teresa Sanchez, Karla Wallace, Regina Cortina, Jill Wu, and Wayne E. Wright.
(2005). Evolution of Federal Policy and Implications of No Child Left Behind for Language Minority Students. Executive Summary, Education Policy Research Unit. This brief details the history of the federal government's stance with language minority students, and analyzes the implications of changes to its guiding principles made by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. With every federal re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act prior to 2001, the importance of bilingual education had progressively appreciated. It had evolved into a program that, while giving schools greater flexibility in terms of types of programs offered, provided greater recognition of the societal benefits of bilingualism for all students, and increased support for developmental bilingual and dual-language immersion programs. This brief also brings to light the troubling issues with NCLB. [For the full report, see ED508474.] [More] Descriptors: Language Minorities, Elementary Secondary Education, Federal Legislation, Minority Groups
(2005). Spanish Teachers' Opinions about the Use of Spanish in Mainstream English Classrooms before and after Their First Year in California, Bilingual Research Journal. Five Spanish teachers working in California elementary schools participated in this project. Although they were assigned to teach in mainstream English programs, they noticed that some of the Latino students in their classrooms were officially classified as English language learners (ELLs) and, as such, had difficulties understanding their explanations. This realization led the teachers to provide these students with additional explanations in Spanish to bridge the existing language gap. The purpose of this study was twofold: to examine the teachers' opinions about the role of Spanish in the English acquisition process of their ELLs and to analyze and compare their support for several theoretical and practical principles of native-language instruction before and after their first year teaching in California schools. In their responses, the teachers showed support for the tenets of bilingual education and concurred that their use of Spanish helped improve the academic progress, English acquisition, and behavior of their ELLs. [More] Descriptors: Elementary School Teachers, Language Teachers, Spanish, English (Second Language)
(2005). Bilingualism for the Children: Implementing a Dual-Language Program in an English-Only State, Educational Policy. In November 2000, Arizona voters passed Proposition 203, a law that replaced bilingual education with a 1-year program known as Structured English Immersion (SEI). Although SEI has little support in the educational or applied linguistics research literature, all English-language learners (ELLs) in Arizona are automatically placed in SEI classrooms. This article examines the effects of SEI on the teachers, administrators, and students at an urban school serving a large number of ELLs. The study found that SEI teachers are largely unaware of the model and unprepared to teach it effectively, that training in SEI strategies has been haphazard, that interpretation of the law's waiver system by State education officials has seriously reduced the number of students eligible for the school's dual-language program, and that forcing English learners into SEI is traumatizing some of them and distressing their parents. The study raises questions about the civil rights implications of the law. [More] Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Bilingual Education, Immersion Programs, English (Second Language)
(2005). Evolution of Federal Policy and Implications of No Child Left Behind for Language Minority Students. Policy Brief, Education Policy Research Unit. This brief details the history of the federal government's stance with language minority students, and analyzes the implications of changes to its guiding principles made by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. With every federal re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act prior to 2001, the importance of bilingual education had progressively appreciated. It had evolved into a program that, while giving schools greater flexibility in terms of types of programs offered, provided greater recognition of the societal benefits of bilingualism for all students, and increased support for developmental bilingual and dual-language immersion programs. This brief also brings to light the troubling issues with NCLB. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 138 notes.) [For Executive Summary, see ED508473.] [More] Descriptors: Language Minorities, Elementary Secondary Education, Federal Legislation, Bilingual Education
(2005). English Only: The Creation and Maintenance of an Academic Underclass, Journal of Latinos and Education. In this article, I address the present-day political and pedagogical implications of the imposition of one year of English only immersion on limited English proficient (LEP) students. The article also presents a case study of an inner-city community in Massachusetts during the early years — 1968-1974 — of transition from English only to bilingual education. The case study highlights the often racist and ethnocentric ideological perspectives that guided the formation of educational structures and pedagogical practices for LEP students historically. I argue that the return to English only reopens a pedagogical space that harbors little hope for the education of linguistic-minority students and explicitly reinstates the harmful ideological perspectives long kept in check through legislative decree. [More] Descriptors: Teaching Methods, Bilingual Education, Limited English Speaking, English Only Movement
(2005). Revisiting the Bilingual Debate from the Perspectives of Parents: Policy, Practice, and Matches or Mismatches, Educational Policy. This article asks two basic questions about educational policy and practice for English-language-learner (ELL) students: First, antibilingual education initiatives imply a subtractive view of teaching and learning; what are parents' views and/or beliefs regarding these policies? Second, how do these views and/or beliefs align with research and best practices regarding the education of ELL students? To answer these questions, we draw from two separate sources: the research literature regarding what are the best practices for ELL students, and a statewide survey of parent public opinion regarding education in Arizona, which similar to California, passed a voter initiative in 2000 to end bilingual education. By considering parental opinions and the extant research, we might improve our chances of meeting the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. [More] Descriptors: Educational Policy, Bilingual Education, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning
(2007). Pedagogical Renewal for Quality Universal Primary Education: Overview of Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa, International Review of Education. This article assumes that pedagogical renewal and teacher development are two sides of the same coin, and that the achievement of a universal primary education that is equitable and of acceptable quality in Sub-Saharan Africa will depend to a large extent on both. The need for pedagogical renewal stems from the evidence that (i) teaching is arguably the strongest school-level determinant of student achievement; (ii) teaching effect on student learning is reportedly higher in Sub-Saharan Africa than it is in high-income countries; (iii) learning achievement is considerably lower in the sub-continent's schools; and (iv) the kind of teaching that takes place in these schools confines students to a passive role and only fosters lower order skills. An overview of experiences with pedagogical renewal highlights the challenges involved in adopting open-ended instructional practices on the sub-continent. It further points to bilingual education as one of the most promising strategies. Regardless of the route taken for renewing pedagogy, the professional development of teacher educators/trainers must be considered a critical enabling condition. [More] Descriptors: Elementary Education, Bilingual Education, Foreign Countries, Teacher Educators
(2007). Spanish Bilateral Initiatives for Education in Latin America, Prospects: Quarterly Review of Comparative Education. The research presented in this article concerns la Agencia Espanola de Cooperacion Internacional (Spanish Agency for International Cooperation–AECI) and its growing presence in Latin America since the late 1990s. The aim is to evaluate the transformative potential that bilateral funding can have on educational reform in the region. The article starts with a brief history of Spain's past and present strategies for educational initiatives in Latin America, and then it focuses on three of AECI's successful projects: basic and adult literacy; gender mainstreaming in development projects; and multicultural and bilingual education. The article explains the effectiveness of Spanish-sponsored projects in Latin America and compares their strategies with those of other bilateral and multilateral donors, such as PREAL. The article concludes by analysing multi-sectoral development efforts that are the foundation of educational strategies sponsored with Spanish funds, based on the grounds that elimination of poverty will not result from projects that focus exclusively on the individual or the family, but rather from those at the community level. AECI's efforts are directed at cultivating internal capacities already present in the communities through training human resources and deploying financial resources. [More] Descriptors: Educational Strategies, Bilingual Education, International Cooperation, Educational Change
(2001). Bilingual Education. Case Studies in TESOL Practice Series. This edited volume contains studies demonstrating the linguistic, cultural, and academic contributions that bilingual approaches to education can make around the world. It is divided into three parts and 12 chapters. Chapter one, "Bilingual Education: Contexts and Programs," is an introduction by the editors. Part one, "Learning a Majority Language through Bilingual Education," is divided into the following five chapters: "Creating Community–Un Mundo Entero: The Inter-American Experience" (Cheryl Urow and Jill Sontag); "Success for All in a Two-Way Immersion School" (Margarita Calderon and Robert E. Slavin); "Strengthening the Transition in Transitional Bilingual Education" (William M. Saunders and Claude Goldenberg); "Trilingual Schools in the Ladin Valleys of South Tyrol, Italy" (Kurt Egger, Margareth Lardschneider McLean); and "A Bilingual Hungarian/Slovak School in the Slovak Republic" (Bridget Fitzgerald Gersten). Part two, "Maintaining an Indigenous Language through Bilingual Education," is divided into the following three chapters: "E Ola Ka Hawaii I Kona Olelo: Hawaiians Live in Their Language" (Lois A. Yamauchi and Puanani Wilhelm); "Balancing Tradition and Modernity: A Natural Approach to Maori Language Revitalization in a New Zealand Secondary School" (Richard A. Benton); and "The Seventh Generation of Kahnawake: Phoenix or Dinosaur" (Kaia'titahkhe Annette Jacobs and Aronhie:niens Edward J. Cross). Part three, "Learning an International Language through Bilingual Education" is divided into three chapters: "English Immersion in a Japanese School" (Mike Bostwick); "Hai, Genki Desu: Doing Fine in a Japanese Immersion Classroom" (Ruth Kanagy); and "An International Bilingual School in Indiana, USA" (Alain Weber). A subject index is included. (Contains 182 references.) Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingual Education Programs, Case Studies, Elementary Secondary Education
(2005). A View from the Classroom, Educational Leadership. The ongoing debate between advocates of bilingual education and advocates of English-only instruction often fails to acknowledge classroom realities. The author, who has taught native Spanish speaking students in a variety of settings, draws on her experience to explain that not all bilingual programs are the same and that no program will guarantee success for all students in all settings. She describes her experience in a dual language immersion school as the ideal and most natural setting for students to become literate in both their native language and English. Subsequent experiences teaching 1st, 4th, and 5th grade English language learners convinced her that students acquire a second language most easily if they develop literacy skills and content knowledge in their native language, have opportunities to interact with English-speaking peers, and learn with students of different ability levels. [More] Descriptors: Literacy, Native Language Instruction, English (Second Language), Immersion Programs
(2007). You Reap What You Sow: Parental Investment in Language Learning and Its Reflection in a Seven-Year-Old's World, Online Submission. According to the 2000 Census, 329 different languages, including English, are spoken in the United States today. With the increasing number of immigrant and international groups, a number of topics such as language learning, language loss and maintenance, and bilingual education have started to follow an important line of investigation in the past few decades in the nation. Although language learning is a complex process and an outcome of the interaction between the cognitive processes and the social contexts attached to them, most of the research, especially in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), concentrated on linguistic construction and simply overlooked the strong relationship between one's social identity and language learning. This study, by looking at the data from a case study of a South Korean family in the United States, calls attention to this disregard through an examination of Norton's view of "investment" as opposed to "motivation" in the participants' choices in terms of language learning. [More] Descriptors: Language Skill Attrition, Bilingual Education, Cognitive Processes, English (Second Language)
(2007). Video-Based Reporting of Evaluation Results in Project SUCCESS, Online Submission. Project SUCCESS sought to recruit, train, and support paraprofessionals and mid-career adults in high-need teaching fields (math, science, special education, bilingual) in transitioning to teach in high-need schools. A 27-minute video was produced to supplement reporting of project evaluation outcomes. This paper highlights procedures and recommendations for production of video to report evaluation outcomes. Email video invitation is appended. [More] Descriptors: Evaluation Methods, Evaluation Research, Microteaching, Transitional Programs
(2005). The Impact of Brown on Mexican American Desegregation Litigation, 1950s to 1980s, Journal of Latinos and Education. The Brown v. Board of Education (1954, 1955) decision of the 1950s had no appreciable impact on ongoing Mexican American desegregation litigation during the 1st decade of its implementation. In the long run, however, it led to a shift in the community's litigation strategy for achieving equality of opportunity in the United States and for improving academic achievement in Latino schools. Because of Brown, Mexican American civil rights lawyers abandoned the "other White" legal strategy that had been used for decades in their struggle against discrimination. In turn, they embraced the equal protection strategy and gained legal protection as an "identifiable ethnic minority group." This introduced them to the national desegregation struggle as meaningful actors until they decided to abandon this strategy and focus on gaining equality under the banner of bilingual education. [More] Descriptors: Minority Groups, Lawyers, Equal Protection, Desegregation Litigation
(2005). A Hungarian Preschool for the Children, Teachers, and Families, Childhood Education. This article describes an exceptional Eastern European preschool where all stakeholders–children, teachers, and parents–place a high value on the unique synergy of inclusive and bilingual education. In this environment, each child is able to experience love and happiness, while developing at his or her own pace. The families feel involved in their children's education, and they feel appreciated for their cultures and values. The teachers are enthusiastic about responding to new challenges, and eager to grow professionally in this nurturing environment supported by the whole community. In this inclusive, physically active, and bilingual learning context, the children, the parents, and the teachers all grow to be productive, empathic, and helpful members of society, who are open to diversity. Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Preschool Education, Bilingual Education, Inclusive Schools
(2007). Failure to Thrive? The Community Literacy Strand of the Additive Bilingual Project at an Eastern Cape Community School, South Africa, Journal of Research in Reading. This paper discusses an attempt to establish community literacy procedures in an Eastern Cape community school. The school hosts the Additive Bilingual Education (ABLE) project, a cooperation between UK and South African universities and the school trust. The community literacy strand of the project encourages family members to contribute oral texts in Xhosa to the school (for example, "ntsomi" or traditional stories, biographies and procedural texts such as recipes). These are then turned into print and electronic text through shared writing, and act as reading resources through paired reading, a cross-age peer-tutoring procedure. This is an attempt to deal with the shortage of reading material in Xhosa, while at the same time enhancing community involvement in the school by producing "culturally relevant" materials. In discussing the problems I encountered in attempting to establish these procedures, I seek to link factors operating at the micro level of school practicalities and community attitudes with those operating at the macro level of national policy and international cooperation. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Reading Materials, Community Attitudes, Community Involvement