This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Washington National Council of La Raza, Alex Henry, Catherine E. Snow, Dina Horwedel, Anita Y. K. Poon, Daniel Choi, Samuel O. Ortiz, Alan Pifer, Wayne E. Wright, and Courtney B. Cazden.
(1990). English Plus: Issues in Bilingual Education, American Academy of Political and Social Science Annals. The special issue of the journal is devoted to a variety of historical, educational, and policy issues arising in the debate over establishing English as the single official language of the United States. Articles on this topic include: "Bilingual Education and English-Only: A Language Planning Framework" (Nancy H. Hornberger); "Historical Legacies: 1840-1920" (Joel Perlmann); "Understanding Educational Policies in Multilingual States" (Christina Bratt Paulston); "The Position of U.S. English on Bilingual Education" (Gary Imhoff); "Official English: A False Policy Issue" (Arturo Madrid); "The Past and Future Directions of Federal Bilingual-Education Policy" (James J. Lyons); "Research, Politics, and Bilingual Education" (Walter G. Secada); "Reviewing Bilingual-Education Research for Congress" (Frederick Mulhauser); "Qualified Public Support for Bilingual Education: Some Policy Implications" (Leonie Huddy, Davis O. Sears); "California Proposition 63: Language Attitudes Reflected in the Public Debate" (Susannah D. A. MacKaye); "The Newton Alternative to Bilingual Education" (Rosalie Pedalino Porter); "A Spanish-English Dual-Language Program in New York City" (Sidney H. Morison); and "Rock Point, a Navajo Way To Go to School: A Valediction" (Agnes Holm, Wayne Holm). Descriptors: Advocacy, Bilingual Education, Elementary Secondary Education, English
(2005). Bringing a Cultural Consciousness to the Classroom, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. The town of Greeley, perched on northern Colorado's prairie, is like many other communities across the United States that are experiencing an influx of immigrants. The picturesque town of 85,000 people had a 30 percent minority population as of the 2000 U.S. Census. Estimates place that figure closer to 40 percent today, most of whom are Hispanic. Less than 1 percent of the city's residents list themselves as Black or American Indian, and only 1.15 percent checked the Asian/Pacific Islander box. With the town's current demographics, it was only natural that the University of Northern Colorado (UNC), located in Greeley, is training its teacher education students to help educate the region's growing Hispanic population. "Cumbres" (Spanish for "peaks"), founded by UNC's Hispanic Alumni Partnership, is a teacher education program that seeks to reach students who are committed to working with Hispanic school children in the public schools. Students in the program start together as freshmen, taking core courses each year to prepare them for their primary areas of teacher certification. But their education goes further. In addition to the standard teacher education coursework, Cumbres students are also studying Bilingual Education or Teaching English as a Second Language. The goal is to be able to reach school children who may be bilingual or primarily Spanish speakers. Dr. Eugene P. Sheehan, dean of UNC's College of Education and Behavior Sciences, says they are training future teachers to serve as role models so that minority students will want to go to college. However, Hispanic children need more than financial and academic support to succeed in college, some say. Positive emotional support must also come from society and teachers and administrators at the higher education institution itself. [More] Descriptors: Preservice Teacher Education, Cultural Awareness, Teacher Competencies, Bilingual Education
(2005). Student Perceptions of Instructional Strategies: Voices of English Language Learners with Disabilities. ELLs with Disabilities Report 11, National Center on Educational Outcomes, University of Minnesota. The rapid increase of culturally diverse populations with special needs in the United States has important implications for delivering grade-level, standards-based instruction to English language learners with Individualized Education Programs (ELL/IEP students). One of the major challenges in both special education and bilingual education is the dearth of research on ELL/IEP students' needs. To be consistent with federal education law requirements, there is a need to focus on content in at least three areas–reading, mathematics, and science. The present study builds on earlier work in which educators of ELL/IEP students were asked about instructional strategies (Thurlow, Albus, Shyyan, Liu, & Barrera, 2004). Specifically, educators generated and weighted the importance, feasibility, and use of content areas and instructional strategies for delivering grade-level, standards-based instruction to ELL/IEP students. Although initial strategies included in the research were from Gersten, Baker, and Marks (1998), 30 educators added strategies to that list. The final list of instructional strategies included 27 reading strategies, 19 mathematics strategies, and 23 science strategies. This study was undertaken to obtain students' input on the instructional strategies generated by educators. The following questions served as the focus of this study: (1) What instructional strategies do ELL/IEP students consider important in reading, mathematics, and science standards-based instruction? (2) What instructional strategies are feasible, as perceived by ELL students with disabilities? and (3) What instructional strategies are employed in the instruction of ELL students with disabilities? Appended are: (1) Instructional Strategies; and (2) Content Area and Instructional Strategy Weightings. [More] Descriptors: Second Language Learning, English (Second Language), Educational Strategies, Reading Strategies
(1999). Chinese Medium Instruction Policy and Its Impact on English Learning in Post-1997 Hong Kong, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Investigates changes in Hong Kong government's medium of instruction policy amid political, economic, and sociolinguistic changes in the last three decades. Explores the possible impact of the Chinese-medium instruction policy proposed in the wake of change of sovereignty on English-language learning. The theoretical underpinning of the study is bilingualism and bilingual education. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Chinese, Educational Policy
(1981). Bilingual Education for Hispanics: Issues of Language, Access and Equity. This collection of short articles focuses on bilingual education for Hispanics. The lead article cites statistics concerning the education of Hispanics, the segregation of Hispanics in schools, and the educational level they are likely to attain. The second article presents a historical perspective on bilingual education in American schools and analyzes reasons for resistance to bilingual education. In the third article, the author looks at the interest groups that support bilingual education, their past growth, and imperiled future. Another article examines diversity in schools and the apparent tension between desegregation and bilingual education. A brief article outlines research findings on the involvement of parents in bilingual advisory groups. A final lengthy article deals with Title VII and bilingual education. The authors look at the history of Title VII, including the years from 1968 to 1974 in which its educational objectives were identified, the years 1974 to 1979 in which the greatest growth in basic programs and appropriations occurred, and the years 1978 to the present consisting primarily of reflection, deregulation, and reauthorization. The article concludes by acknowledging the wide-reaching impact of bilingual education, urging its continuation, and warning that there are problem issues raised by it that cannot be ignored. [More] Descriptors: Advisory Committees, Bilingual Education, Bilingual Education Programs, Educational History
(1985). Secretary Bennett's Bilingual Education Initiative: Historical Perspectives and Implications. This paper provides an overview and assessment of Secretary Bennett's "bilingual education initiative" of 1985 including his intention to seek regulatory and legislative changes in the 1984 Bilingual Education Act. Following a brief introduction, a summary of the Federal statutes, policies, and proposals which have shaped policy on bilingual education over the last decades is presented. An overview of the Reagan administration's bilingual education proposals from 1981 through 1985 is included. Finally, the implications of the Bennett proposals and the recommendations of the National Council of La Raza for the future of bilingual education are presented and discussed. In brief, the paper asserts that Bennett's proposals would reduce the amount of Federal guidance and financial support for bilingual education. If implemented, it is argued, these proposals would deleteriously affect the extent and quality of educational opportunities available to limited-English proficient children (the majority of whom are of Hispanic origin). To avoid this outcome, the paper recommends that the Department of Education fully implement the terms of the Bilingual Education Act of 1984 and provide additional funding for programs operated under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, especially the Special Alternative Instruction Programs and the Family English Literacy Programs. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Civil Rights, Elementary Secondary Education, Equal Education
(2005). Voices from the Classroom: A Statewide Survey of Experienced Third-Grade English Language Learner Teachers on the Impact of Language and High-Stakes Testing Policies in Arizona. Executive Summary, Education Policy Research Unit. This survey of third-grade teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs) in Arizona regarding school language and accountability policies–Proposition 203 (a voter-initiative that restricts the use of bilingual education programs in Arizona schools), the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), and Arizona LEARNS (the state's high-stakes testing and accountability program)–reveals that (a) these policies have mostly resulted in confusion in schools throughout the state, (b) that there is little evidence that such policies have led to improvements in the education of ELL students, and (c) that these policies may be causing more harm than good. The majority of teachers surveyed reported that Sheltered (or Structured) English Immersion (SEI)–the state's mandated method for teaching ELLs since the passing of Proposition 203–is too restrictive and that this approach, as it is being implemented in Arizona, is inadequate for meeting the language and academic needs of ELL students. Furthermore, teachers reported that English-only high-stakes testing is driving instruction for ELL students which fails to take into account students' current levels of English language proficiency and previous opportunities to learn grade-level academic content. Teachers reported that recent changes in language and accountability policies and the strong pressure to teach-to-the-test and raise ELL student scores–despite the students' lack of proficiency in the language of the test–have decreased the morale and career satisfaction of teachers, and have led to high teacher turnover in schools with large ELL student populations. [More] Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Instruction, Grade 3, Elementary School Teachers
(1999). An Investigation into the Levels of Difficulty of Certain Semantic Word Classes in a Bilingual Setting, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Focuses on determining which semantic classes were being easily learned and which were causing difficulty for pupils in Brunei Darussalam's bilingual-education system. Also sought to determine, through analysis of pupil translation errors, which factors made a particular word or class of words difficult to learn. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Difficulty Level, English (Second Language)
(1981). In Search of a Paradigm for Bilingual Education. The success of a new paradigm depends upon the level of coherency and organization within its supporting community, and Thomas Kuhn's argument concerning the resistance to new paradigms and their power to change the existing order can be used in the context of bilingual education. Bilingual education programs have the potential to create a scientific revolution in the field of education, have drawn a widespread resistance from existing paradigms, but have failed to instigate any paradigmatic changes in current educational practice. An examination of the various types of bilingual education programs currently functioning in American public schools raises the following questions: (1) Can bilingual education programs be characterized to the extent and level of technical knowledge that make them operational? (2) What are the effects of technological characteristics on the bilingual classroom structure and its outcomes? (3) Is it possible to structure bilingual education programs into "ideal type" models? Bilingual education has failed to arise as a paradigmatic response to a unique set of beliefs and has not developed a model that would generate hypotheses relevant to its survival in a bureaucratic environment. Bilingual education must gain control of itself and direct its own action. [More] Descriptors: Acculturation, Bilingual Education, Change Agents, Cultural Pluralism
(2005). Assessing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students: A Practical Guide. Practical Intervention in the Schools Series, Guilford Publications. This is the first book to present a practical, problem-solving approach and hands-on tools and techniques for assessing English-language learners and culturally diverse students in K-12 settings. It meets a crucial need among practitioners and special educators working in today's schools. Provided are research-based, step-by-step procedures for conducting effective interviews with students, parents, and teachers; making the best use of interpreters; addressing special issues in the prereferral process; and conducting accurate, unbiased assessments of academic achievement, intellectual functioning, language proficiency, and acculturation. Among the book's special features are reproducible worksheets, questionnaires, and checklists-including several in both English and Spanish-in a ready-to-use, large-size format. This book is part of the Practical Intervention in the Schools Series, edited by Kenneth W. Merrell. The contents of the book include the following: (1) English-Language Learners in U.S. Public Schools: A Heterogeneous Population; (2) Disproportionate Representation of Diverse Students in Special Education: Understanding the Complex Puzzle; (3) Legal and Ethical Requirements for the Assessment of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students; (4) Bilingual Education and Second-Language Acquisition: Implications for Assessment and School-Based Practice; (5) Prereferral Considerations for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students Process and School-Based Practice; (6) The Use of Interpreters in the Assessment Process and School-Based Practice; (7) The Interview Process: Practical Guidelines; (8) Acculturation Factors in Psychoeducational Assessment; (9) Language Proficiency Assessment: The Foundations for Psychoeducational Assessment of Second-Language Learners; (10) Conceptual Measurement and Methodological Issues in Cognitive Assessment of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Individuals; (11) Cognitive Assessment of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Individuals: An Integrated Approach; and (12) Assessment of Academic Achievement: Practical Guidelines. [More] Descriptors: Teaching Methods, Psychoeducational Methods, Guidelines, Acculturation
(2007). Slicing the Onion Ethnographically: Layers and Spaces in Multilingual Language Education Policy and Practice, TESOL Quarterly: A Journal for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and of Standard English as a Second Dialect. In this article, we take up the call for more multilayered and ethnographic approaches to language policy and planning (LPP) research by sharing two examples of how ethnography can illuminate local interpretation and implementation. We offer ethnographic data collected in two very different institutions–the School District of Philadelphia and the Andean regional graduate program in bilingual intercultural education in Cochabamba, Bolivia–both of which act as intermediary agencies between national language policies and local educational initiatives. Drawing from long-term ethnographic work in each context, we present excerpts from spoken and written discourse that shed light on the opening up or closing down of ideological and implementational spaces for multilingual language education policy and practice. We illustrate through our examples that ethnographic research can, metaphorically speaking, slice through the layers of the LPP onion (Ricento & Hornberger, 1996) to reveal agentive spaces in which local actors implement, interpret, and perhaps resist policy initiatives in varying and unique ways. [More] Descriptors: Language Planning, Multicultural Education, Indigenous Populations, Educational Change
(1999). Sustaining Indigenous Languages in Southeastern Peru, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Examines Muhlhausler's thesis that to understand the decline of small languages, one must comprehend ecological factors comprising each language's support system. Discusses the Harakmbut peoples of southeastern Peru, examining their concept of territory, which provides context for understanding environments that support Harakmbut and Spanish. Considers the role of intercultural bilingual education in the context of increasing Spanish and decreasing Harakmbut. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Case Studies, Elementary Secondary Education
(2005). Alternative Certification for Science Teachers: Policy and Context, Online Submission. The purpose of this paper is to review literature on the alternative certification policy so as to identify key features and issues as the basis for suggesting a more systematic approach to the study of the policy efforts. Alternative teacher certification has become a proliferating phenomenon in the United States in response to current and projected widespread teacher shortages. The growth of alternative certification, while rapid, has not been systematic and there is little agreement on how to define, structure and ensure quality control across a diverse array of programs. In the course of nearly 20 years of implementation of alternative certification, the policy landscape has been dominated by a myriad of definitions and programs, intense debate about the professional legitimacy of the solution, and mixed, inconclusive and even contradictory research in terms of the effectiveness of such programs. Although the projected severe nationwide teacher shortages have not materialized in general, such shortages do exist in specific localities and specialties, indicating that teacher distribution rather than production is the issue. Nevertheless, despite the endeavor to solve the generic teacher production problem at the macro level, alternative teacher certification has been criticized for having fallen short of addressing teacher distribution and retention at the micro level, that is, in most hard-to-staff schools in urban and rural areas and in high-need subject areas, such as mathematics and science, English as a second language, bilingual education, and special education, and for teachers of color and male teachers. Given the complexity of issues, the continued growth, and the on-going investment of public resources associated with alternative teacher certification, a comprehensive, in depth and systematic descriptive analysis is needed to help evaluate the effectiveness of the policy in addressing teacher supply and demand, teacher production and distribution. Classification of Alternative Routes is appended. [More] Descriptors: Program Effectiveness, Teacher Distribution, Teacher Shortage, Science Teachers
(1979). Bilingual Education and the Hispanic Challenge. The bilingual education movement, begun in the 1960's and virtually mandated by the 1974 Supreme Court Lau vs. Nichols decision, is highly controversial due to public perceptions of bilingual programs; the apparent departure from traditional school language policy; and the concept of bilingual education as a strategy for realizing the social, political, and economic aspirations of Hispanic Americans. Prior to the reauthorization of the Bilingual Education Act in 1982, supporters of bilingual education face the major challenges of educational justification of what has become a political situation and solving the many problems embedded in the movement. The strong Guidelines for the 1978 Amendments to the Bilingual Education Act will help in the areas of curriculum development, funding, and research. Undeniably, bilingual education has grown dramatically since 1968 and has been a vehicle enabling Hispanics to press for their language rights and giving them a point of entry into all other issues related to Hispanic rights and opportunities. Bilingual education will continue to be significant especially in the education of mainland Puerto Rican children returning to the island and to the children of undocumented workers from Mexico, and in helping Hispanic children in general gain essential credentials for better employment. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Court Litigation, Educational Finance, Educational History
(2005). Voices from the Classroom: A Statewide Survey of Experienced Third-Grade English Language Learner Teachers on the Impact of Language and High-Stakes Testing Policies in Arizona, Language Policy Research Unit. This survey of third-grade teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs) in Arizona regarding school language and accountability policies–Proposition 203 (a voter-initiative that restricts the use of bilingual education programs in Arizona schools), the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), and Arizona LEARNS (the state's high-stakes testing and accountability program)–reveals that (a) these policies have mostly resulted in confusion in schools throughout the state, (b) that there is little evidence that such policies have led to improvements in the education of ELL students, and (c) that these policies may be causing more harm than good. The majority of teachers surveyed reported that Sheltered (or Structured) English Immersion (SEI)–the state's mandated method for teaching ELLs since the passing of Proposition 203–is too restrictive and that this approach, as it is being implemented in Arizona, is inadequate for meeting the language and academic needs of ELL students. Furthermore, teachers reported that English-only high-stakes testing is driving instruction for ELL students which fails to take into account students' current levels of English language proficiency and previous opportunities to learn grade-level academic content. Teachers reported that recent changes in language and accountability policies and the strong pressure to teach-to-the-test and raise ELL student scores–despite the students' lack of proficiency in the language of the test–have decreased the morale and career satisfaction of teachers, and have led to high teacher turnover in schools with large ELL student populations. [More] Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Instruction, Grade 3, Elementary School Teachers