This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Albert W. Lantz, Window Rock Navajo Tribe, Lourdes Rovira, Sandra H. Fradd, Donald M. Taylor, Tomi D. Berney, Stephen C. Wright, Irma N. Guadarrama, Pomona. California State Polytechnic Univ., and Janet M. Holt.
(1998). Where Does Speech Fit In? Spoken English in a Bilingual Context. Sharing Ideas. This paper discusses factors that influence deaf and hard of hearing children's spoken English development. It addresses philosophical and practical issues related to maximizing these children's communication with the hearing majority within an educational environment that capitalizes on American Sign Language as a fully accessible language for classroom instruction. Identified factors involved in spoken English development include amount of residual hearing, amplification, language competency, family support, and intelligence level. Looking at the question of sign language or speech, the paper supports keeping the two languages separate (like other bilingual children) in contrast to the popular "simultaneous communication" method. The importance of maintaining realistic expectations is stressed with 11 questions to help parents set realistic goals. Examples are given of use of the two basic bilingual education strategies: (1) having specific people use each language; and (2) designating specific times, settings, or circumstances for each language. Also discussed are acquiring spoken English through natural interaction, learning spoken English through teaching and practice, and communication in the community. (Contains 16 references.) [More] Descriptors: American Sign Language, Bilingual Education, Deafness, Elementary Secondary Education
(1998). Bilingual/ESL Programs Evaluation Report, 1997-98. Publication Number 97.08. In compliance with Texas state law, the Austin Independent School District (AISD) provides two programs to serve students identified as limited English proficient (LEP): bilingual education and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL). ESL is both a component of bilingual English and a stand-alone program. In 1997-98, AISD enrolled 10,538 LEP students, 92 percent of whom were Spanish speakers. Three groups of exited LEP students have been observed since 1994-95. Compared to students districtwide, the most recently exited group was recommended for retention less often, earned higher grade point averages, had lower school leaver rates, and had higher attendance rates. Former LEP students in the latest exit group in middle and junior high had lower discipline rates than students districtwide. Similar positive findings were apparent in many areas for students in the two earlier exit groups. Students still receiving LEP services had lower achievement test scores than students districtwide, including lower results on a Spanish language instrument. The success of the Bilingual and ESL programs in mitigating school leaver rates at the secondary level suggests that continued program service beyond the elementary level has a positive effect in assisting students. Appendixes contain text from the applicable state legislation, a list of staff development programs, and summaries of professional development activities. (Contains 14 figures and 35 tables.) [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Bilingual Education, Elementary Secondary Education, English (Second Language)
(1978). Curriculum and Instruction: Cultural Issues in Education. A Book of Readings. The 1976 Claremont, California, symposium to exchange and clarify ideas regarding the study and implementation of new alternatives to quality cultural education focused on two main concepts. The first was the concept of transcultural education design; the second, that cultural uniqueness in our society results from the capability to be responsive and responsible to opportunities of having cultural options with more than one defined culture. Fifteen presentations from the symposium have been collected in this book of readings intended for teachers, counselors, curriculum planners, resource specialists, teacher trainers, and administrators. The articles address the rationale, design, and instructional process of transcultural education; bilingual transcultural education; teacher preparation for a pluralistic society and for bilingual teachers; materials evaluation and selection; curriculum development; testing and cultural diversity; and social studies and transcultural education. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Clearinghouses, Cultural Background, Cultural Pluralism
(1975). California's Early Childhood Education Program (Its Impact on Reading and Language Development of Children Ages 5-9). The goals of this instructional program for California public school children aged five through eight, begun during the 1973-74 school year, are to insure that all children who complete third grade will be able to read, write, and compute and to help children develop positive attitudes toward school so that they can achieve their learning potential throughout their compulsory school years. This document outlines briefly the instructional components of the program (language development, reading, mathematics, multicultural education, bilingual-bicultural education, and other curriculum areas), the support components (staff development, parent participation, parent education, and health/auxiliary services), and program strategies, and includes three tables charting results of a program evaluation. [More] Descriptors: Early Childhood Education, Instructional Programs, Language Acquisition, Mathematics
(1998). Coral Way Elementary School: A Success Story in Bilingualism and Biliteracy, Discover; n3 Feb 1998. Coral Way Elementary School (Florida), the nation's oldest 20th-century public bilingual school, is recognized as a model for bilingual education. Its curriculum promotes enrichment and language development while building on the languages students bring to school. As well as a medium for moving students to English proficiency, it is a vehicle for immersing students in a second language experience to prepare them for life in a linguistically diverse world. Students become bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate. All pre-K-5 students are instructed in both English (60 percent of instructional time) and Spanish (40 percent). In English and Spanish components, students receive instruction in reading, language arts, science, and social studies by teachers fully proficient in the designated languages. Mathematics is taught bilingually by the Spanish component teachers. The school promotes self-esteem, respect, and discipline, incorporating the CORE Knowledge Curriculum into a holistic, theme-based program using cooperative learning and problem-solving. Of the 1,376 students, about 432 are identified as limited-English-proficient and attend English-as-a-Second-Language classes. It is a neighborhood school. Parent support is high, and the school addresses community and business language needs. [More] Descriptors: Bilingualism, Curriculum Design, Elementary Education, English (Second Language)
(1975). An Operational Model for Bilingual Education. Over 1,100 community and junior colleges are currently enrolling students in the United States. In Arizona, California, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado where the proportion of the population is about 20 percent Spanish speaking, there are about 210 two-year colleges. Studies indicate that 75 percent of all Mexican Americans attending post-secondary education are enrolled in community colleges. In 1971, there were 121,897 students enrolled in Texas community colleges; of these, 17,893 (14.6 percent) were Mexican Americans. Yet, few 2-year colleges report any significant progress in bilingual-bicultural education. The El Paso Community College is one of the few which has achieved some degree of success in bilingual-bicultural programs. It has pursued an instructional improvement phase which focuses on the development of a competency-based, learner-oriented model of instruction in which faculty development is essential. This paper discusses the learner-oriented model being developed at El Paso Community College. [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Biculturalism, Bilingual Education, Community Colleges
(1998). Biennial Evaluation Report: Fiscal Years 1995-1996. This biennial report is the 23rd report to the Congress on federally funded education programs and the 14th such report submitted by the Department of Education in fulfillment of a Congressional mandate. For FY 1995-1996, there is information on 151 programs administered by the Department. Programs are grouped according to the administering office of the Department of Education: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, and Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Available information is presented on the purpose, funding, target population, services, administration, effectiveness, management improvement strategies, and sources of information for those programs. Planned studies are briefly outlined. Overviews of postsecondary education, vocational and adult education discuss the purposes, funding, governance, services, and outcomes of the Department's major programs in these areas. Chapters describing programs have a subsection on performance indicators where such information is available. This report summarizes evaluation findings on what helps program participants to increase their achievement or improve their performance. The appendix lists with brief descriptions the evaluation contracts active in the Office of the Under Secretary (OUS) during Fiscal Years 1995-1996. [More] Descriptors: Adolescents, Adult Education, Adult Vocational Education, Bilingual Education
(1998). Kativik School Board Initiated Research: The Basis for Informed Decision Making = Recherches a l'Initiative de la Commission Scolaire Kativik: Pour des Decisions Eclairees = [Inuttitut Version]. Presented in Inuttitut, French, and English, this report summarizes research initiated by the Kativik School Board, which oversees education in Nunavik (northern Quebec). Four studies examined the current status of Inuttitut in Nunavik, the intellectual ability of Inuit students, and the effects of bilingual education on Inuit students' self-esteem and language proficiency. Community surveys showed that Inuttitut (also called Inuktitut or Inupiaq) was the strongest language for Inuit people. However, English was the dominant language, serving as a lingua franca for anglophones, francophones, and Inuit, and Inuttitut was showing signs of language shift with diminishing fluency in younger speakers. Inuit respondents strongly supported the school's role in protecting and propagating Inuttitut. In a second study, K-2 Inuit students had higher scores than U.S. and Canadian samples on the Raven Progressive Matrices, confirming the intellectual potential of Inuit students. Two other studies compared Inuit students enrolled in Inuttitut, English, or French immersion programs in grades K-2. The Inuttitut conversational skills of all children developed somewhat over the 3 years, but only the children in the Inuttitut immersion program showed strong gains in Inuttitut academic language proficiency. Self-esteem increased during the kindergarten year for children in the Inuttitut program, but not those in second-language programs. Also, children in the Inuttitut program had a more positive view of Inuit children as a group. (Contains 46 references.) [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Canada Natives, Community Attitudes, English
(1998). On the Border of Opportunity: Education, Community, and Language at the U.S.-Mexico Line. Sociocultural, Political, and Historical Studies in Education. The U.S.-Mexican border is an extensive geographical region that is socially and economically distinct from either the United States or Mexico. It has always been a multilingual and multicultural place. This book examines the social and cultural complexities of life in one small rural border town and its high school. Chapter 1 describes Havens, New Mexico, and its interdependence with its Mexican neighbors. Chapter 2 introduces three "cultural mediators," two students and one teacher from Havens High School. These individuals are highly conscious of their border-bound lives and work actively to mediate between their local and Mexican cultures. Chapter 3 presents the language landscape in the community and in the schools, focusing on the uses of Spanish and English. This is followed by a specific description of the district's bilingual education programs in chapter 4. Chapter 5 introduces the social structure of the high school and describes student interactions across cultural lines. Chapter 6 presents an alternative metaphor for thinking about the border, and identifies markers of opportunity that already exist in Havens as it works toward defining what it means to be a bicultural and binational community. The epilogue reviews progress in bicultural relations, the effect of new U.S. immigration laws, and how hospitality has been the foundation of Havens' cross-border relationships. Contains 35 references, notes, and an index. Descriptors: Biculturalism, Bilingual Education, Bilingual Students, Bilingualism
(1998). Educating Bilingual/ESL Teachers in a Language/Culture Exchange Field School: A Collaborative Model in Teacher Education. This paper describes a program that brings bilingual and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers from the United States to a Mexican ESL school to teach in the Tetiz (Yucatan, Mexico) field school and in exchange, learn Mayan language and culture. The theoretical base for the project is drawn from the work of major theorists in second language education who emphasize the importance of integrating instruction with social, cultural, and linguistic experiences and encourage diversity in the classroom. The field school project was designed to integrate these ideas into bilingual and ESL teacher training. Fifteen American university students, most undergraduate bilingual education majors, serve as ESL teachers and two graduate students and two professional educators serve as support staff. The community in which the school is situated is described, and a survey of staff after a five-week summer session is reported. The survey asked what benefits staff received as a result of participation, how the experience has affected their work as a teacher, professional, or student, what problems they experienced, and whether they would recommend the program to others. Results are reported, and recommendations are made for advancing the field school model. Contains 15 references. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, College Students, Cultural Education, English (Second Language)
(1977). Bilingual Education Plan of the Navajo Nation. Representing the efforts of the Navajo Division of Education in the initial phase of planning and developing the Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program for the Navajo Nation, this document includes rationale, educational philosophy, and program goals. Additionally, it addresses procedures regarding: implementation (needs assessment coupled with commitment to the law); language policy (literacy, status of proposed Navajo Office of Education, staff development, "university of competence", and the Navajo Community College); Navajo area/local communities' assessment; needs assessment and external and internal program evaluation; educational program development (curriculum component, curriculum materials development from schools and centers, field testing, curriculum development center vs local in-school development, and instructional model characteristics–planning and instructional methods); staff development component (personnel training, targeted personnel for training, types of training, orientation, training workshops, cultural awareness workshops, university education–standard, and competency based training). The appendices present: proposed resolution of the Navajo Tribal Council regarding the Navajo language; a language action plan; bilingual definitions; needs assessment; objectives; models (I, II, III, and IV); cooperating agencies; and a time line. As described here, this program is grounded in the belief that language is the key to the preservation of a culture and that firm command of one culture is a prerequisite to successful comprehension of another. Descriptors: Agency Cooperation, American Indians, Bilingual Education, Community Involvement
(1998). The Relationship between Pre-Service Teachers' Beliefs and Practices During Literacy Instruction for Non-Native Speakers of English. This study surveyed 106 student teachers/interns to determine (1) whether they possessed theoretical beliefs about second language learning and teaching that reflected the methodological divisions of skill-based, rule-based, and function-based approaches toward teaching English as a Second Language (ESL); (2) the extent to which their instructional practices were consistent with their theoretical beliefs; and (3) whether their beliefs and practices changed from the beginning to the end of the year. Participants were preservice educators studying multiple subjects, single subjects, special education, and bilingual education. They completed the Beliefs Inventory, which examined their orientation to teaching ESL, and the Lesson Plan Analysis Task, which had them choose which lesson plans they preferred. Students who demonstrated clear theoretical orientations completed the Ideal Instructional Protocol, which had them describe preferred procedures, techniques, and materials; preferred groupings of students; preferred assessment measures; and good second language learners within ESL classrooms. Next, researchers used observational instruments to examine students' procedures and techniques, materials, grouping methods, assessment methodology, and interactions with students. All students were observed three times from January-June. Results indicated significant differences between programs in proportions of students having clear theoretical orientations and in theoretical orientations toward teaching ESL. Participants' practices were very consistent with their theoretical beliefs. Their theoretical beliefs did not change over the year. The survey instruments are appended. (Contains 17 references.) [More] Descriptors: Attitude Measures, Bilingual Education, Educational Theories, Elementary Secondary Education
(1990). Computer Writing Skills for Limited English Proficiency Students: Project COMPUGRAFIA.LEP 1988-89. OREA Evaluation Section Report. The Computer Writing Skills for Limited English Proficient Students (Project COMPUGRAFIA.LEP), bilingual special education classes totalling 375 Spanish-speaking students at 10 elementary schools in the Bronx, is evaluated. The project proposed to assist site teachers in developing appropriate lesson plans and effective teaching techniques and offered teachers instruction in the teaching of computer-supported writing and career education. Through the use of interviews with school and project personnel, class observation, analysis of student attendance and achievement data, and a project director questionnaire, it was determined that Project COMPUGRAFIA.LEP met its objectives for staff and curriculum development. The program was also successful in getting the desired number of parents involved in training sessions to improve their English language skills. The program, however, was still unable to interest parents in bilingual and special education policies and procedures. The project did not meets its English-as-a-Second-Language or Native Language Arts objectives. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education Programs, Career Education, Computer Science Education, Elementary Education
(2016). The Literacy Factor in the Optimal Age Discussion: A Five-Year Longitudinal Study, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. This study examines the impact of L2 literacy on the development of writing proficiency in the L3, as related to age of onset (AO) of instruction, as well as the effects of AO on ultimate L3 attainment at the end of the period of normal schooling. Using longitudinal data for the same student cohort (200 Swiss learners of English) at the beginning and at the end of secondary education, it was found that advantages of an early start do not emerge even after a substantial amount of input has been gained. The late starters, who began English instruction five years after the early starters, were able to catch-up to the written performance of the early starters within six months, and this remained true even when the total number of hours of study input was not controlled for. Quantitative analysis revealed that this may be explained in terms of a possible "threshold level" for L2 writing to transfer to the L3, since the late starters began L3 education with a better foundation in L2 German, which is their primary language of literacy. Furthermore, high statistical correlations were found between L2 and L3 literacy skills irrespective of starting age. [More] Descriptors: Longitudinal Studies, Multilingualism, Second Language Learning, Transfer of Training
(1998). Pio Pico: Breaking the Culture of Silence. This qualitative study explored the presence of community voice in a newly structured inner-city elementary school in Santa Ana (California). Nearly every family at Pio Pico Elementary School lives below the poverty level, and Spanish is the primary language of 90% of the residents, with most families being of Mexican or Central American origin. However, from its inception as a model demonstration school, Pio Pico has been a school in the cutting edge of educational reform. This study shows what makes Pio Pico a success. The school, which opened as a restructuring school, is a demonstration school for the district's bilingual education program, and is a Professional Development School in collaboration with the University of California, Irvine. The school gives voice to its community largely because of the efforts of the principal; a woman who is committed to the community and to the acceptance of the diversity of the students and awareness of their cultural heritages. The full-inclusion school serves about 900 students on a year-round schedule of 4 cycles, with 13 teachers per cycle. Parent participation is very high at Pio Pico, where parental concerns receive constant attention. The school has sponsored neighborhood cleanups to combat drug and gang activity. Community voice is strengthened by collaborative partnerships with many organizations, but it is the democratic leadership of the principal that is the key to the school's success. (Contains 15 references.) [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Community Involvement, Educational Change, Elementary Education