This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Hesham F. Gadelrab, Alicia Sosa, Jill Kerper Mora, Jose Amselle, Gilda L. Ochoa, Jeff MacSwan, Luciana C. De Oliveira, Robert Johnson, Stephen Krashen, and Andy Martin.
(1998). From LEP to Academic: Reflections on My Twenty Years in Title VII, Bilingual Research Journal. A Mexican American teacher/administrator describes her experiences with bilingual education as a limited-English-proficient child, college student, bilingual teacher, graduate student, district administrator, teacher of bilingual teachers, and employee in a federal technical assistance center, and traces the impact of Title VII (the Bilingual Education Act) on language minority education. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingual Teachers, Elementary Secondary Education, Higher Education
(1978). International Dimensions of Bilingual Education. Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics (Washington, D.C., 1978). These proceedings of the Georgetown Round Table cover the international dimensions of bilingual education. The proceedings are divided as follows: (1) "Aspects of Bilingual Education," which includes discussions of models, bilingual communities, and positive bilingualism; (2) "Parameters of Bilingual Education Policy," which includes discussion of policies, research methodology, and multicultural education; (3) "Bilingual Education and Dialects," which discusses Western prestige languages, and code-mixing in India; (4) "Implementation of Bilingual Education: Strategy and Structure," including discussions on the native American, professionalism, the English-speaking Canadian and French immersion, and multilingualism; (5) "Perspectives on Bilingual Education," which discusses cognitive and sociocultural factors, and bilingual programs; (6) "Implementation of Bilingual Education: Strategy and Structure," which includes discussion of indigenous languages, bilingual programs in the Phillipines and Africa, and evaluation; (7) "Bilingualism and Language Learning," including material development, cultural and ethnic factors, and methodology; (8) "Further Perspectives on Bilingual Education," which discusses research, methodology, and literacy; (9) "Bilingual Education and Dialects"; and (10) a concluding address on the morality of bilingual education. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Dialect Studies, Educational Policy
(2000). NABE News, 1999-2000, NABE News. The National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) newsletter is published 8 times a year in order to help NABE fulfill its mission of addressing the educational needs of language-minority Americans. Topics such as educational reform, bilingual education, bilingualism, indigenous bilingual education, second language teaching (theory and practice), and other topics related to the mission of the organization are covered. Also regularly featured are book reviews, announcements of upcoming conferences and calls for papers, noteworthy events and news in the bilingual education field, and membership information. Issues highlighted in volume 23 include the following: teachers as researchers, structured immersion programs, SAT-9 scores, California Proposition 227, multiple intelligences, a summary of Title IX, transforming the culture of schools, professional development for school reform, the state of heritage languages in 2000, federal funding for Title VII in fiscal year 2000, networking, capitalizing on diversity, the status of education legislation, learning styles, efforts to eliminate the digital divide, effective teaching practices, and the influence of family structure factors. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education Programs, Bilingualism, Cognitive Style, Elementary Secondary Education
(2000). Official English: Bridge or Barrier?, ESL Magazine. Discusses the official English movement in the United States. Provides suggestions for groups that really want to help immigrants acquire English, by building bridges and not barriers. These include the following: (1) joining private and charitable organizations in helping make English-as-a-Second-Language classes available; (2) support libraries; and (3) support bilingual education. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, English (Second Language), English Only Movement, Second Language Instruction
(2000). A Simple Matter of Policy, American Language Review. Discusses the political schism that has driven public policy toward how to educate English language learners in the United States. Highlights some of the effects of Proposition 227–the California initiative that replaced bilingual education with structured immersion–such as calling attention to the educational needs of language minority students. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Educational Needs, Educational Policy, Elementary Secondary Education
(2008). Advocacy for Equity in Classrooms and Beyond: New Teachers' Challenges and Responses, Teachers College Record. Background/Context: New teachers face an array of challenges in today's schools. Even when teachers leave credential programs with useful preparation, early-career jobs and contexts shape and constrain teachers' goals and practice related to teaching diverse learners. Becoming change agents can be a tall order. Purpose/Objective/research Question/Focus of Study: Considering this context, we sought to understand how graduates of one teacher credential program appear prepared to advocate for educational equity in their new jobs by asking three questions: (1) What challenges do new teachers identify in classes and schools that require advocacy for some youth? (2) In what ways do they respond to such challenges? and (3) What enables these acts of advocacy? Research Design: A total of 38 graduates, all currently teaching, participated in five separate 3-hour focus groups of 5-10 teachers each. We used focus groups as a research tool to triangulate a range of other data, including artifacts and surveys. We sought teachers' deep reflections on practice, on their preparation for advocacy work, and on their professional needs. We transcribed focus group discussions then subjected these to a series of procedures, including analysis of content and themes of teachers' narratives. Findings/Results: Teachers reported actions to address equity in a range of sites, with the classroom as the core site for teachers' advocacy work. In complex narratives, teachers reported trying to meet learning needs of diverse students. English language learners' needs especially prompted acts of advocacy in and beyond the classroom. These included instructional tailoring, out-of-class tutorials, hunts for better texts and tests, a library field trip, creation of a culture/computer club, heightened parent contacts, and launching of a bilingual parent group. Teachers' acts of advocacy shared four crosscutting themes: a goal of equitable access to resources and support, convictions about equity, interceding on behalf of students in need, and engaging coadvocates. Teachers reported that these themes have grounding in their teacher credential program, which featured advocating for equity in its mission, goals, and practices. Those with bilingual education credentials engaged in more acts of advocacy beyond the classroom, and analyses suggest that this may be due to credential program experiences, life experiences, and the larger sociopolitical context for teaching English language learners. Conclusions/Recommendations: Results challenge conventional models of learning to teach, documenting how teachers, even in the throes of the induction period, can focus on student learning and on ways to advocate in and beyond the classroom for those in need of someone interceding on their behalf, particularly when well prepared to do so. [More] Descriptors: Student Diversity, Student Needs, English (Second Language), Field Trips
(2011). Factorial Structure and Predictive Validity of Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) in Egypt: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis Approach, Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology. Introduction: The purpose of this study is double. First, to evaluate the factorial structure of Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) as a measure of approaches to learning with bilingual Egyptian higher education students by testing the plausibility of reproducing its intended three-factor structure. Second, the study aimed at testing the predictive validity of ASSIST. Method: The sample of the study consisted of (n=516) college students from one international university in Egypt. To cross-validate the factor structure, the subjects were divided into two equal samples. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the structure of ASSIST. Results: The findings of this study confirmed the underlying constructs of three distinctive approaches to learning. ASSIST main scales and subscales' scores showed appropriate internal consistency and predictive validity to academic achievement. Conclusion: It was concluded that ASSIST is a valid research tool for the assessment of approaches to learning, however caution should be taken with respect to the interpretation of particular subscales and possible sample effects. [More] Descriptors: Research Tools, Predictive Validity, Factor Structure, Factor Analysis
(2008). All in a Decades Work, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. In this article, Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College's longtime president Dolores Fernandez reflects on her journey through academia and helping other Hispanics reach the top. In 1998, Dr. Dolores Fernandez was exactly where she wanted to be as a tenured, full-time professor at Hunter College, the largest in the City University of New York system (CUNY). Then she got a call asking her to leave Manhattan and take the helm of Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College, CUNY's troubled bilingual community college in the South Bronx. Fernandez initially said no. CUNY's chancellor called her to his office to try to change her mind, but it was a Black History Month speech at Hunter that made the difference. A Black minister from the Bronx looked at the comfortable academics and challenged them: Look at your communities. Do the people living there now have the same advantages you had? Fernandez started crying. She called the chancellor to tell him she'd lead Hostos for an interim basis. More than 10 years later–nine of them as Hostos' permanent president–Fernandez, has announced she'll step down once a replacement is named. When Fernandez took over as interim president, Hostos faced potential closure. Its prior president resigned after she was accused of allowing students to graduate without being able to read or write English. She came in vowing that every graduate would pass the English-language exam. The exam has since changed and students have more time to take it. But Fernandez, a big believer in bilingual education, also shook up Hostos' bilingual approach to try to save it. The New York Times reported that the pass rate for the writing exam was 9 percent when Fernandez first took over as president. According Hostos Director of Institutional Research Richard D. Gampert, the passing rate for the exam that replaced the CUNY writing exam was 44.5 percent last year. Students who take a remedial writing course are required to take the test. The highest passage rate during Fernandez' tenure came in 2004, when 46.7 percent of those students passed. [More] Descriptors: Community Colleges, College Presidents, Hispanic Americans, Disadvantaged
(2000). And the Survey Says . . , American Language Review. Examines attitudes towards bilingual education at two Houston schools. Found an important interaction between standards performed by the school and the teachers' beliefs about student capability to meet those standards, and that there is a powerful link between language politics and expectation climate. Descriptors: Academic Standards, Beliefs, Bilingual Education, Educational Attitudes
(2010). Why and How Africa Should Invest in African Languages and Multilingual Education: An Evidence- and Practice-Based Policy Advocacy Brief, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (NJ1). In the 21st century, learning is at the heart of the modern world's endeavours to become a knowledge economy. It is the key to empowering individuals to be today's world producers and consumers of knowledge. It is essential in enabling people to become critical citizens and to attain self-fulfilment. It is a driver of economic competitiveness as well as community development. Good quality learning is not only about becoming more competent, polyvalent and productive but also about nurturing diversity and being well rooted in one's culture and traditions, while adapting to the unknown and being able to live with others. This kind of learning entails developing curiosity and responsible risk-taking. This advocacy brief seeks to show the pivotal role of languages in achieving such learning. It aims in particular to dispel prejudice and confusion about African languages, and exposes the often hidden attempt to discredit them as being an obstacle to learning. It draws on research and practice to argue what kind of language policy in education would be most appropriate for Africa. This advocacy brief is a short collection of what we know and what research tells us about the use of African languages in education. It is a collection and review of relevant evidence and arguments to inform African decision-makers in their difficult policy choices when it comes to the use of African languages in education and governance. Their choice is made more complex still by the fact that two key stakeholders–namely parents and teachers–have an ill-informed understanding of the issue and tend to oppose it, arguing the need to preserve and protect the supreme interest of the children. Language policy is a political decision, and political decisions should always serve the best and highest interests of the community or nation. In this regard, the advocacy brief also addresses bilateral and multilateral agencies in order to inform their decision-making when working with African governments and alert them to the consequences of their actions and poor advice. This guide will explore research evidence that will spell out the strong prejudices, confusions and threats surrounding the language question. It hopes to show that there is a real intrinsic value and worth to mother-tongue-based education beyond the emotional attachment and loyalty to identity, culture and values. Appended are: (1) Policy guide for the integration of African languages and cultures into the education system (2010); (2) African policy documents; (3) African institutions; (4) Multilingual/bilingual education programmes in Africa and (5) Glossary of technical terms. (Contains 1 figure and 6 tables.) [Additional funding for this paper was provided by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and the Government of Norway. [More] Descriptors: Evidence, African Languages, Bilingual Education, Foreign Countries
(2000). Bilingual by the Book, American Language Review. Highlights the rise of bilingual education publishing in the United States. As the population of limited-English-proficient students kept growing, publishers began to realize that Spanish language programs could be profitable. Textbook publishers will respond as the demand for bilingual educational materials grows. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, English (Second Language), Instructional Materials, Limited English Speaking
(2010). Mid-Childhood Immigrant Perspectives on Achieving College Success, ProQuest LLC. This study extends what is known about the experience of mid-childhood immigration. Fifteen participants, college students who immigrated to the U.S. from Latin America between the ages of 8 and 16 and who had completed at least a semester of transferable college-level coursework, provided their narratives by way of an open-ended interview focusing primarily on academic performance and achievement. Interviews were conducted using a life story methodology which seeks to maximize participant control over responses. Participants recounted their experiences from arrival through school completion and at college, and described which variables–circumstances, characteristics, behaviors, attitudes, events–they perceived as being most supportive of and most threatening to their academic success. A broad and nuanced picture of the experience of mid-childhood immigrants emerged. Variables supporting academic success were seen to include a stable home setting (providing continuity during the tumultuous post-migration period), the motivational power of the "struggle narrative" (the memory of difficulties faced in connection with the migration experience), and participation in extracurricular activities and college bridge programs (which support acculturation and feelings of connectedness). Working against academic success were inconsistent mentoring and advising, a lack of reliable information about educational options, unevenly executed bilingual education upon arrival, and (for roughly half the participants) undocumented immigrant status. Among the most striking of the findings is the substantial uniqueness of the mid-childhood immigrant identity and of the processes which contribute to the development of that identity as opposed to other immigrant and non-immigrant identities. Though diverse, mid-childhood immigrant identity involves key shared and particular characteristics. During the immediate post-migration period, participants experienced isolation and withdrawal due to the unfamiliar setting, a condition which served the protective function of preventing affiliation with unproductive or oppositional peer groups. Most reported structured engagement (i.e., in sports and other activities) which permitted the development of beneficial relationships and feelings of connectedness with the new academic and social communities. Though participants reported strong influences from both original and host cultures, this was not seen to be a source of particular distress. A view of mid-childhood immigrant identity emerges as defined by (a) "liminality", inhabiting the space between cultural influences, and (b) "motility", having the ability and tendency to move between those influences bidirectionally and intentionally. Undocumented mid-childhood immigrants were seen to exhibit two striking and paradoxical characteristics: First, their inability to travel reduces the influence of the culture of origin while the length of residence encourages assimilation, resulting in a possible tendency to identify more strongly with the new culture despite being denied full membership; this is termed the "affiliation paradox". Second, the increased difficulty they face due to their status has the effect of increasing the motivational power of the struggle narrative. Thus, the most significant hurdle to their success also becomes their most significant motivator, a phenomenon termed the "incentive paradox". [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: Extracurricular Activities, Bilingual Education, Academic Achievement, Children
(2000). Policy Shifts in Language-Minority Education: A Mismatch between Politics and Pedagogy, Educational Forum. Reviews political debates over the effects of California Proposition 227, which restricted bilingual education. Identifies effective strategies for teaching language-minority students: valuing culture, native language use, staff development, community involvement, and student assessment. Asserts that Proposition 227 is flawed. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Court Litigation, Educational Policy, Instructional Effectiveness
(2000). The Threshold Hypothesis, Semilingualism, and Other Contributions to a Deficit View of Linguistic Minorities, Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences. Four kinds of reputed evidence for semilingualism or limited bilingualism are rejected as spurious or irrelevant. An alternative explanation of school failure among language minority children focuses on the lack of first-language support and the absence of comprehensible instruction in content-area knowledge. Implications for bilingual education policy and practice are discussed. (Contains 162 references.) Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Elementary Secondary Education, Language Minorities
(2011). Teaching Is a Fight: An Interview with Sal Castro, Rethinking Schools. In June, more than 40 years after the Los Angeles Unified School District tried to fire Sal Castro for his leadership of the 1968 Chicana/o Blowouts, it came full circle and named a middle school after him. As a young teacher, Castro was a key organizer of the 1968 student walkouts (called "blowouts" by the youth), when as many as 40,000 Chicana/o students marched out of their schools to demand bilingual and bicultural education, more Mexican American teachers and administrators, relevant curriculum, accurate textbooks, and an end to the tracking that steered Mexican American students into vocational classes. Branded a dangerous agitator by television news commentators and charged with a series of felonies, Castro was fired by the school district. The community surged to his defense; eventually the charges were dropped and he was rehired. Through his work with the Chicano Youth Leadership Conference, Castro has nurtured generations of students. Since 1963, more than 5,000 students have participated in the conference. This article presents an interview with Sal Castro. In the interview, Castro talks about his passion for educational justice. [More] Descriptors: Multicultural Education, Mexican Americans, School Districts, Youth Leaders