Seligman, Richard (1974). Educational Program Auditing: The Research Perspective. The results of a major study on the topic of evaluation and decision making which was conducted at the Center for the Study of Evaluation are presented. The purpose of this paper is to explain what we know about independent educational accomplishment audits and the manner in which they have been carried out. As part of the larger study cited above, data on the audits was obtained for a group of 39 bilingual education projects. The audit reports covered the bilingual programs during the 1970-71 school year. These reports were analyzed by at least two independent reviewers. The reviewers' ratings were recorded on the Audit Data Sheet, an instrument designed to tap essential information on the manner in which the audit had been conducted. In those cases where the raters' judgments did not coincide, a third rater reviewed the audit report in question and served as an independent adjudicator. This procedure yielded interesting and useful data on three principal features of the educational program audit: the procedures employed by the auditors, their judgments on the quality of the evaluation procedures, and the scope of the audit activities.   [More]  Descriptors: Accountability, Decision Making, Educational Programs, Evaluation Methods

Jordahl, Angela A.; And Others (1995). Teacher Stories of Cross-Cultural Communication, Insights into Open Education. A collection of three excerpted stories is provided in this paper about cross-cultural communication. The paper presents excerpts from papers written as assignments by teacher/students in a course about first and second language development. In the paper's first excerpt, Angela Jordahl tells about her involvement with Kurdish students in a cross-cultural experience that moved them from the school to a beauty salon in "A Hair Cutting Experience." The paper's second excerpted author, Karen Nordvall, who teaches English as a second language in Bismarck, North Dakota, at an adult learning center, describes "A Visit to a Ukrainian Family" motivated by the need to assess the relationship between home and school on behalf of a child. In the paper's third excerpt, "A Conference Presentation in Mexico," Jackie Wilcox, the director of the secondary Bilingual Education Program at Solen-Cannonball on the Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota, relates a story of planned and unplanned professional development while attending a science education conference in Oaxtepec, Mexico.   [More]  Descriptors: Adult Learning, Bilingualism, Cross Cultural Training, Cultural Awareness

Rothstein, Richard (1997). Where's the Money Going? Changes in the Level and Composition of Education Spending, 1991-96. This report examines shifts in the amount and composition of school spending growth over the 1991-96 period by analyzing expenditures in nine representative urban and suburban school districts. Major findings are: (1) the share of spending on regular education is shrinking; (2) special education funding grew to 19.0% of all school spending; (3) school lunch and breakfast programs grew to 4.8% of total school spending in 1996; (4) bilingual education programs grew to 2.5% of total school spending in 1996; and (5) the shift of school spending away from the regular education program continues a trend observed over the period from 1967 to 1991. It would, however, be inaccurate to conclude that special education or other special programs have been growing at the expense of regular education; such a conclusion would have to be based on speculation about what would have happened to regular education in the absence of the growth of special programs. This shift is a phenomenon worthy of policymakers' attention. The findings lend some support to the claims of those who deny that schools have wasted added funds received in the last 3 decades. (Contains eight tables, one figure, and four references.)   [More]  Descriptors: Educational Finance, Educational Policy, Elementary Secondary Education, Expenditures

Walsh, Catherine, Ed.; Prashker, Hana, Ed. (1991). Literacy Development for Bilingual Students: A Manual for Secondary Teachers and Administrators. This manual is a collection of reports of library research, classroom research, and classroom experience of teachers of bilingual education and English as a Second Language. The guide is intended as an aid to teachers and administrators, who are encouraged to use and adapt the ideas for their own students. The essays include the following: "Literacy and School Success: Considerations for Programming and Instruction" (Catherine Walsh); "Assessing and Evaluating Where Studens Are and Where They Are Going" (Eileen Buianowski, Carmen O'Connor); "A Theme-Based Approach to Literacy" (Lisa Franklin, Lionel Hogu, Michael Mankin); "A Case Study of Low-Literate Hispanic Students" (Maria Gheridian); "A Proposed Curriculum for Older Literacy Students" (Phuc Huu Nguyen, Ruth Weinstein); and"On the Way to an Alternative Educational Program for 'At Risk' High School Students" (Rosario Gomez-Sanford). A final section lists practical resources for the high school literacy classroom, including lesson plan ideas, suggested readings, and supplementary readings. (MSE) Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Administrator Guides, Adult Students, Bilingual Students

IDRA Newsletter (1995). Lifelong Learning. IDRA Focus. This theme issue focuses on the need for adult literacy programs, as well as recent innovations in literacy education. "Adult Literacy and Leadership: Current Innovations" (Aurelio M. Montemayor) describes an adult literacy outreach program in Texas, and discusses the importance of family literacy for parents' involvement in their children's education and for advocacy efforts. "Literacy Is Vital to Democracy" (Mikki Symonds) argues that a functional democracy depends upon the participation of all citizens, which in turn requires education that fosters critical literacy, as well as bilingual education for language-minority students. "Exploring New Directions in Adult Literacy Assessment" (Pam McCollum) recommends a reconceptualization of adult literacy assessment to make it more responsive to student needs and goals. "Implementing Family Literacy" (Ninta Adame-Reyna) describes four types of family literacy programs and offers suggestions for program design and implementation. "Project SALNET: Helping Adult Learners and Their Instructors into the Twenty-first Century" (Laura Chris Green) describes the San Antonio Adult Literacy Network, which incorporates a local electronic bulletin board system into a three-phase program focusing on the writing process, word processing, and reaching an audience through telecommunications. "What IDRA's Project SALNET Has Meant for Our Students" features comments from project instructors. This issue also contains a statement of immigrant students' rights to attend public schools and a list of additional readings on lifelong learning.   [More]  Descriptors: Adult Basic Education, Adult Literacy, Critical Thinking, Democracy

Calderon, Margarita (1996). How a New Form of Peer Coaching Helps Teachers and Students in Two-Way Bilingual Programs. A 5-year study, conducted in two schools on the Texas-Mexico border, is investigating the effectiveness of peer coaching as a professional development strategy for teachers in two-way bilingual education programs. A group of 24 teachers, half bilingual and Hispanic and half monolingual and Anglo participated in the study. For each, classroom ethnographies were compiled after classroom observation, and teachers were videotaped at random times during classroom teaching. Six teachers were observed all day for a period of one week. In addition, teachers responded to a questionnaire on teaching practices, team teaching experience, and perceived problems and successes. Professional development sessions, during which the teachers acted as peer coaches, were also videotaped and ethnographies were developed for them. Ethnographies were analyzed for code switching, instructional patterns for each language, social/power relationships, teacher/student participation structures, and identification of particular discourse forms. The methods were found to be effective in focusing on the quality of student participation patterns, level of learning quality in each language, time and status given to each language, and teachers' professional development needs. (Contains 39 references.)   [More]  Descriptors: Classroom Communication, Classroom Observation Techniques, Code Switching (Language), Cross Cultural Training

McCoy, Jack (1984). New Mexico Standardized Testing Program Report. 1983-1984 School Year. In March of 1984, a total of 55,771 New Mexico public school students in grades 3, 5, and 8 were tested with the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) as required by the statewide standardized testing program. This document reports scores as national percentile ranks, and indicates the position of New Mexico students compared to a national sample of students. Scores are reported in 14 categories for each grade tested. Test results show that out of a total of 42 scoring categories for all three grades tested, 41 categories were at or above the national norm. In grade 3, the percentile rank scores in all fourteen categories were up from the previous year, and scores for grade 5 were higher in nine categories. Scores for grade nine increased in eleven categories. The appendix provides a summary of percentile scores in grades 3, 5, and 8 based on student's ethnicity, dominant language, and involvement in bilingual education programs. All of the percentile rank scores listed for Hispanic, Native American, and Black students were equal to or greater than the scores achieved by these ethnic groups in the previous year. Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Achievement Tests, Basic Skills, Bilingual Students

Tucker, G. Richard; Crandall, JoAnn (1989). The Integration of Language and Content Instruction for Language Minority and Language Majority Students. Two-way, or bilingual, immersion education, a major innovation in the integration of language and content instruction, is intended to improve the quality of language education for language minority and language majority students in the United States. The emerging educational practice responds to the increasing proportions of language minority students in many parts of the country and also holds promise for improving the quality of foreign language instruction for language majority children. An introductory section describes the early Canadian experience with language and content integration, which began over 20 years ago, and discusses the benefits of bringing language majority and language minority students together in a single program of instruction (two-way, or bilingual, immersion). The basic bilingual immersion program model is discussed, and related research is reviewed. Two exemplary programs, Arlington, Virginia's Key Elementary School and California's Edison Elementary School in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, are discussed. The report concludes that bilingual immersion education can be a powerful vehicle for promoting the development of bilingual language proficiency and social competence in elementary school children, and that the success of this approach depends largely on teachers' sensitivity to the children's language abilities and needs. 28 references.   [More]  Descriptors: Case Studies, Classroom Techniques, Curriculum Design, Educational Strategies

El Paso Community Coll., TX. (1995). Quick Start Training Program. PY95 Final Detailed Report. The Quick Start Training Program is a transitional program that was developed to help the homeless population of El Paso, Texas, become self-sufficient through short-term vocational skills training. The program's occupational training component was designed to meet local training needs and was supplemented with activities to give participants occupational literacy, occupational life skills, job information, job search assistance, and educational counseling. Counseling was provided to 775 individuals, including 514 who participated in some type of educational/job training/employment counseling experience. Of those 514 individuals, 97 were recruited into the Quick Start program and 51 completed it successfully. The program demonstrated its potential to help homeless individuals put their lives in order; however, it also established that homeless people often require an entire package of course work, evaluation, counseling, and life skills and language training. Bilingual education was found to be especially necessary because of El Paso's large Spanish-speaking population. (Appendixes constituting approximately 90% of this document include the following: survey instruments; student recruitment/completion data; course outlines; course evaluations; lists of homeless coalition agencies contacted; publicity flyers; a job search inventory; the table of contents of an English/Spanish job search handbook; minutes of staff meetings; and reports to the homeless coalition.)   [More]  Descriptors: Adult Basic Education, Career Counseling, Career Education, Community Colleges

Baker, Richard (1995). The Education Institution. As part of a study of racial relations between Mexican Americans and Anglo Americans in rural Idaho, over 60 teachers, school administrators, and students were interviewed in educational institutions in five southwestern Idaho communities. One high school was the focus of field research, which also included attending school activities and school board meetings. Mexican American subjects agreed that the needs of Mexican American students were not being met, producing a dropout rate estimated at 40-60 percent. Mexican American teachers believed that Mexican American students drop out in junior high school because of deficient academic skills caused by inadequate bilingual education. On the other hand, Anglo teachers and administrators blamed the dropout problem on Mexican American parents who have little education, speak Spanish at home, and do not participate in school functions. Generally, Anglo educators had not been exposed to multicultural teaching methods, and felt that it was Mexican American parents and students who had to change. Anglo administrators vacillated between paternalistic and colonialist attitudes, felt that the school role was to foster assimilation of minority groups, and dismissed criticisms of the school and suggestions for change. Notably, Mexican American dropouts enrolled in GED classes in an alternative school demonstrated more success than in regular school settings, possibly because of the acceptance and respect accorded them by alternative-school staff. This chapter also describes a Boise State University program to train Mexican American teachers and lists 14 recommendations of an Idaho state task force on Mexican American education. Descriptors: Administrator Attitudes, Anglo Americans, Dropouts, Educational Discrimination

Hofmeister, A.; And Others (1996). Paraeducators: Critical Members of the Rural Education Team. Over the past 20 years, there has been a steady increase in the number of paraprofessional personnel employed in special education, Title 1, and bilingual education programs. Currently, there are approximately 500,000 paraeducators working in the United States. Data indicates that 95 percent of paraeducators are women working for little more than minimum wage, that the role of paraeducators has shifted from clerical work to greater instructional involvement with special education students, and that job satisfaction is low among paraeducators. The availability of paraeducator training is important because of paraeducator's critical role as a member of the instructional team. The identification of 32 training programs for paraeducators across the United States revealed that 10 programs were specific to special education paraprofessionals and that only 1 program had been designed specifically for a rural setting. The most common topics covered by training programs were related to paraeducator roles and responsibilities; monitoring, assessment, and evaluation; teaming and collaboration; instruction; and behavior management. A survey of Utah special education teachers and special education paraeducators indicated the need for paraeducator training in behavior management and understanding special education students. This paper suggests that the increased use of paraeducators in rural education programs can offset limited resources in rural schools and that effective training is the key to using paraeducators in school programs. The appendix lists 32 paraeducator training programs, including date, author, and title of literature source, and contact person and address.   [More]  Descriptors: College Programs, Educational Needs, Elementary Secondary Education, Higher Education

Austin Independent School District, TX. Office of Research and Evaluation. (1981). 1980-81 Overlap Study: Number of Students Served by Single and Multiple Compensatory Education Programs. Publication No. 80.86. In order to provide information for compensatory education program planners and coordinators, the Austin (Texas) Independent School District was studied in 1980-81 to estimate the number of children being served by one or more compensatory education programs. These programs served 14,355 students at 80 elementary or secondary district campuses: English for Speakers of Other Languages; Local/State Bilingual Programs; 1- and 5-Year Migrant Students Served by a Migrant Teacher; 1- and 5-Year Migrant Students Not Served by a Migrant Teacher; Special Education; Direct Instruction; Title I Students Served; Title I Schoolwide Projects; Former Title I Students in Schools Receiving Emergency School Aid Act funds; Colorsounds; SCE Transitional Bilingual Education; and SCE Elementary Reading Instruction. Of all students served, 12,015 (83.7%) were served by one program only; 2,095 (14.6%) by two programs; 234 (1.6%) by three; and 11 (.1%) by four. Although over 2,000 more students were served by compensatory programs in 1980-81 than in 1979-80, the number served by more than two programs dropped from 1,065 to 245, largely because of the ending of the Title 7 Bilingual Program in grades K-6. Duplicated and unduplicated counts of students served are presented by school and for the district as a whole.   [More]  Descriptors: Compensatory Education, Elementary School Students, Elementary Secondary Education, English (Second Language)

Ortiz, Flora Ida (1995). Mexican American Women: Schooling, Work, and Family. ERIC Digest. This digest examines the interdependence of schooling, work, and family in the lives of Mexican American women. Mexican Americans have lower educational achievement than other Hispanic subgroups and the total U.S. population, although females do somewhat better than males. Hispanic students are overrepresented in classes for special education, English as a Second Language, and bilingual education, and underrepresented in gifted classes. However, Hispanic students' representation in such classes and the nature of their school experiences in general have been shown to be influenced by the relative proportions of ethnic groups in the school, by Hispanics' relative socioeconomic status (SES), and by Hispanic representation on school board and faculty. Since most Mexican American women live in low-SES communities, their school experiences are likely to be negative. Nevertheless, Chicanas have recently shown some improvement in rates of higher education enrollment and completion. In 1993, about half of Mexican American females were in the labor force, located primarily in low-paying jobs with poor or inadequate working conditions and little job security. Mexican American culture does not value women's success in the labor market; working-class women are more likely than professionals to accept such cultural values. Many Chicanas describe high levels of ambivalence and stress over conflicts between motherhood and employment, and inadequate income and cycles of unemployment add to psychological distress.   [More]  Descriptors: Educational Attainment, Elementary Secondary Education, Employed Women, Employment

Mace-Matluck, Betty; Boethel, Martha (1996). Exploring Binational Educational Issues: A Report from the Border Colloquy Project. "La frontera" is the unique, highly interdependent region spanning the boundary between the United States and Mexico. As this region develops into a zone of cooperation, it must address such issues as poverty and unemployment on both sides of the border, differing educational requirements and structures, continuing migration of Mexican students to U.S. schools, need for reciprocity in teacher certification, issues of bilingualism and bilingual education, and political factors. The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory initiated the Border Colloquy Project to develop common understandings about educational issues and needs facing "la frontera," foster an internationally shared vision for education, and encourage development of comprehensive binational plans to fulfill that vision. The project focuses particularly on the shared border regions of Texas, New Mexico, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, and Chihuahua. In 1994, the project sponsored seven meetings of teachers, administrators, community members, and university faculty. Participants developed a vision of "la frontera" in 2010, and identified priorities for achieving this vision: changing stereotypes and biased attitudes, teaching residents in both countries about each other's history and culture, addressing needs for funding and other resources, and extending binational educational cooperation. Initiatives that are already under way to support the common vision of "la frontera" are described, and project plans through 1997 are outlined.   [More]  Descriptors: Educational Cooperation, Educational Needs, Educational Planning, Elementary Secondary Education

Calderon, Margarita (1995). Dual Language Programs and Team-Teachers' Professional Development. A study in two El Paso (Texas) elementary school two-way bilingual education programs investigated factors in learning through first and second language, analyzed teacher development in a context of complex change, and identified promising school structures for collaborative professional development for these teachers. Of the 24 participating teachers, 12 from each school, half were bilingual (Spanish-English) and half were English monolingual. Classes were team-taught. All were observed monthly by trained observers; six of them were observed all day for an entire week. All were videotaped for an hour at randomly-selected times, and observed once a month during professional development sessions. Teachers also responded to an essay-type questionnaire asking them to elaborate on their teaching practices, team-teaching experiences, and overall problems and successes. Teachers all commented that the team teaching situation, with one monolingual and one bilingual teacher, offered new opportunities for personal and professional growth. Structures for the teams' development provided opportunities to learn collaboratively, including role-playing, peer coaching, classroom ethnography, and curriculum writing. The locally-constructed professional development program was found to be an effective structure for needed change.   [More]  Descriptors: Bilingual Teachers, Elementary Education, Elementary School Teachers, English (Second Language)