This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Caroline E. Parker, Nickola Wolf Nelson, Robert Lee Frazer, Rodrigue Landry, H-Dirksen L. Bauman, Laura M. O'Dwyer, J. Antonio Tovar-Aguilar, Barohny Eun, Max Cooke, and Kenneth Deveau.
(2014). Coaching Teachers of English Language Learners, Reading Horizons. The following qualitative study examined how Reading First Literacy Coaches refined their literacy coaching to meet the cultural and linguistic needs of Hispanic English language learners (ELLs) in 30 elementary schools located along the US Mexico Border. Data were gathered from the coaches through written surveys and a focus group. Findings from the coaches' practices identified three themes: 1) Coaches understood bilingual programs and the theory underlying such instruction; 2) Coaches supported teachers of ELLs by sharing their knowledge and experiences about ELLs; and 3) Coaches faced challenges in meeting the needs of teachers of Hispanic ELLs. This study is an addition to the literature that describes and contextualizes the work of instructional coaches. It has practical implications for schools seeking to build the capacity of teachers of ELLs. Guidance is suggested related to hiring coaches with special dispositions and the professional development of existing coaches. [More] Descriptors: English Language Learners, Coaching (Performance), Qualitative Research, Elementary School Teachers
(2009). Toward a Theory of Critical Teaching for Social Justice in Outdoor Education Studies: A Grounded Theory Study of Philosophical Perspectives and Teaching Practices, ProQuest LLC. A review of outdoor education literature revealed a stark absence of research on social justice oriented teaching perspectives and practices of college faculty in outdoor education studies (OES). However, there is a significant imperative to explore this dimension considering the role of higher education in effectuating social change, the prevalence of social reform oriented outdoor educators in college level teaching, and the interest in promoting social justice through other areas of educator preparation including teacher education and principal preparation. As the literature also revealed, social justice and equity oriented teaching and philosophy is well articulated within the critical pedagogy, multicultural education, and social justice education literature yet is under-theorized in OES. To this end, this study examined three questions related to OES faculty committed to social justice: (a) What beliefs inform those outdoor education faculty with a commitment to social justice? (b) What are their intentions in teaching for social justice? (c) What actions do they employ in teaching for social justice? In other words, how do they enact or express their beliefs and intentions in the classroom? Participants were selected purposefully using snowball sampling in order to credibly identify college level educators with a commitment to social justice in their teaching. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and field notes, while analysis was guided by grounded theory. Findings suggest OES faculty with a commitment to social justice hold five primary beliefs about the place of social justice and critically oriented teaching in OES; seven intentions as critically oriented and justice driven teachers; and enact these beliefs and intentions through a combination of instructional, dispositional, and curricular related actions. These findings differ from most of the outdoor education literature pertaining to social justice in at least three ways. These findings are derived from research, rather than intuitively from scholars and practitioners; the outcomes shed new light on the nature of social justice and critical teaching in OES; and this study contributes to the very limited discourse on preparing OES students to teach and lead for social justice. In these ways, this study holds implications for future research and practice. [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: Social Justice, Grounded Theory, Outdoor Education, Theories
(2009). Authoring Multiple "Formas de ser": Three Bilingual Latino/a Fifth Graders Navigating School, Journal of Latinos and Education. Drawing from sociocultural and anthropological perspectives, I present 3 case examples of bilingual, Mexican-origin students enrolled in a transitional bilingual educational program in an urban elementary school. By using the theoretical constructs of figured worlds, authoring, and "formas de ser" (ways of being), I examine how student identities were in a constant and dialogic state of formation by the students themselves and others. I discuss how high-stakes testing and other schooling practices narrowly authored students behaviorally, academically, and linguistically–bringing about schooling environments where students' strengths and multifaceted "formas de ser" were all-too-often overlooked. [More] Descriptors: Mexican American Education, Grade 5, Bilingualism, Developmental Psychology
(2009). Reconciling Accountability and Development Needs in Heritage Language Education: A Communication Challenge for the Evaluation Consultant, Language Teaching Research. The paper offers a retrospective evaluation of recent evaluative studies of bilingual programs in the Australian state of Victoria, in an attempt to determine how successfully the evaluation process met the dual criteria of external accountability and development. The programs in question were located in primary or secondary government schools and involved partial immersion in a heritage language. Data for the paper are drawn from the following: (a) the consultant's recollections of the evaluation context and process, and (b) the evaluative reports relating to three different programs (Vietnamese-English, Chinese-English and Arabic-English respectively). In hindsight it appears that the effectiveness of each evaluation may have depended in part on the degree of fit between the school and the consultant's views about the function of the evaluation initiative, as well as on her ability to communicate findings in terms which were both academically defensible and meaningful for teachers and program administrators. While the task of bridging the gap between the accountability and ameliorative functions of each evaluation was challenging for all parties (and possibly exacerbated by linguistic and cultural divides), it is argued that the former is not necessarily at the expense of the latter. The requirement that outcomes be reported objectively to an external stakeholder can, if appropriately handled, generate insights among program participants which can be harnessed for program improvement. The paper concludes with an account of the lessons learned from the evaluations, in the hope that these will help evaluation consultants in forging more productive relationships and better communications with program participants. [More] Descriptors: Program Evaluation, Program Improvement, Bilingual Education Programs, Program Effectiveness
(2009). Postscript: Gallaudet Protests of 2006 and the Myths of In/Exclusion, Sign Language Studies. On October 13, 2006, the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department arrested 133 Gallaudet University students, staff, and alumni, the largest number of university arrests in the United States since the 1960s. The arrests occurred amid weeks of building and campus lockdowns, hunger strikes, a sprawling tent city, rallies, and a two thousand-person march to the Capitol. At a time when many university faculty across the nation lament apathy on campus, Gallaudet University students orchestrated a massive protest that garnered national media attention and forced the Board of Trustees to meet their demand that the president-designate be removed before taking office. What could possibly have sparked such widespread activism? The very causes of the protest were themselves a principle site of vigorous debate. Unlike the 1988 Deaf President Now (DPN) movement, which rallied behind the well-defined issue of selecting a deaf president for a deaf university, the 2006 protests were far more complicated and overdetermined. The Gallaudet Protest of 2006 could only be fully explained through a feature-length documentary film or book-length analysis with writers from all perspectives engaged in a critical collaboration with the issues. Such a volume would be able to lay out the escalation of events from the initial protests in May to the campus lockdown in October and the Board's capitulation. Such a volume would also describe the relevance of the protest in this particular historical moment. This article discusses what the protests say about Deaf political life in 2006 and beyond. [More] Descriptors: Deafness, Governing Boards, College Presidents, Higher Education
(2014). The Correlates of Academic Performance for English Language Learner Students in a New England District. Stated Briefly. REL 2014-021, Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands. This "Stated Briefly" report is a companion piece that summarizes the results of another report of the same name. The study examined student and program characteristics that are related to English proficiency and content area achievement for English language learner (ELL) students in one urban district in Connecticut. Study authors found that ELL students in special education had English proficiency scores significantly lower than the mean for all ELL students in all grades, and that students' English proficiency scores were associated with both math and reading performance in all grades. Results also showed that there were no clear patterns in the relationship between the type of ELL program attended and students' English proficiency, math, or reading scores. [This report was written in collaboration with the English Language Learners Alliance. For the full report, "The Correlates of Academic Performance for English Language Learner Students in a New England District. REL 2014-020," see ED546480.] [More] Descriptors: English Language Learners, Urban Schools, School Districts, Language Proficiency
(2014). Parental Involvement in Language and Literacy Acquisition: A Bilingual Journaling Approach, Child Language Teaching and Therapy. This pilot study examined the feasibility of a home-school partnership for improving emergent literacy skills in Spanish-speaking pre-school children of migrant farmworkers. Parents were requested to send labeled drawings of family activities to their children's classroom for supplementing bilingual language and literacy instruction. Participants were 19 children (between 2;6 and 5;2) assigned randomly to experimental (n = 11) or control (n = 8) classrooms. Pretest-posttest measures in Spanish and English were obtained using the Early Literacy Skills Assessment (ELSA). Results indicated significant increases in pre- to posttest English and Spanish scores for the experimental group, but not for the control group in alphabetic and print knowledge. Parental participation rates (as measured by weekly drawing submissions) exceeded 90%. These results suggest that integrating parent-generated content into classroom language intervention activities may be feasible both in terms of parental involvement as well as children's emergent literacy skills development. [More] Descriptors: Parent Participation, Family School Relationship, Partnerships in Education, Emergent Literacy
(2009). A Sociocultural View of Language Learning: The Importance of Meaning-Based Instruction, TESL Canada Journal. The process of second-language teaching is grounded in the sociocultural theory of Vygotsky, which emphasizes meaningful interaction among individuals as the greatest motivating force in human development and learning. In this theoretical framework, the concepts of meaning and mediation are considered as the two essential elements affecting an individual's learning of a second language. Suggestions are offered for enhancing students' second-language learning in their regular classrooms by applying sociocultural theories to practice. Socioculturally based implications for classroom teaching include bilingual instruction, focus on pragmatics, literacy instruction based on drama, inclusive learning environments, instruction based on children's interests, and the teacher's role as a facilitator mediating between students and their second-language learning environment. [More] Descriptors: Childhood Interests, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Sociocultural Patterns
(2014). Evaluating Extension-Based Adult Education for Agricultural Labor Supervisors, Journal of Agricultural Education. Educating farm labor supervisors about the regulations that govern agricultural operations and employment is critical to reducing unintentional violations of workplace safety and labor laws. Cooperative Extension can provide the training needed to professionalize this vital and diverse workforce. One challenge to providing adult education to a wide-ranging audience of labor contractors, crew leaders, and farm managers is implementing a program that meets varied needs and expectations and adapts to linguistic and cultural differences. This study combined quantitative and qualitative methods to measure learning and satisfaction in a bilingual Extension training program and to evaluate the relationship between educational outcomes and program components. The study found that attendees of both the English and Spanish trainings rated the quality of their experience as either high or very high regarding the intensity of learning, the likelihood of implementing what was learned, and their overall satisfaction with the program. Furthermore, post-test scores were significantly higher than pre-test scores for both groups. Nonetheless, English training attendees had significantly higher post-test scores than Spanish training attendees. The study concluded that successful agricultural educational program implementation is tied to adaptive teaching, staffing, and logistical strategies that respond to multicultural realities yet maintain pedagogical standards. [More] Descriptors: Rural Extension, Extension Education, Adult Education, Agricultural Education
(2014). U.S. Spanish and Education: Global and Local Intersections, Review of Research in Education. The author of this chapter argues that the failure of Spanish language education policies in the United States to educate both Latinos and non-Latinos has to do with the clash between three positions–(a) the English language, characterized by U.S. educational authorities as the unique and powerful lingua franca; (b) the Spanish language, as defined by the language authorities in Spain and Latin America as a global language of influence; and (c) language as lived and practiced by bilingual Latino speakers. Because language education policy is the purview of nation-states as they organize educational programs and curricula, this chapter starts by offering a historical perspective of how Spanish was linguistically constituted. It does so to help people understand the role that teaching Spanish, and in Spanish, has had in promoting the standardization and spread of Spanish from its origins in Castile to its global position today, especially in the United States. The chapter then focuses on the teaching of Spanish in the United States and the relationship of ideologies and practices on Spanish language education policy, as carried out internally by federal, state, and local U.S. educational agencies, as well as by external agencies controlled by Spain. Finally, the chapter describes how "translanguaging" in education can be used to create a U.S. bilingual trans-subject, able to appropriate Spanish language practices into their entire linguistic repertoire. [More] Descriptors: Spanish, Second Language Learning, Educational Policy, Hispanic American Students
(2009). Self-Determination and Bilingualism, Theory and Research in Education. This article focuses on additive bilingualism for minority group children, more specifically the development of strong literacy skills in English and in the children's language. The personal autonomization language learning (PALL) model is presented. It specifies eight testable hypotheses. Self-determination theory (SDT) is central in the PALL model. It is argued that autonomy support in both languages is related to basic needs satisfaction (autonomy, competence, relatedness: ACR) which is in turn related to internally regulated motivation for learning the language. Owing to the strong social attraction of English, the model proposes that favouring the learning of the minority language and basic needs satisfaction in that language foster additive bilingualism because of the strong interlinguistic transfer of minority language competencies and of an internal motivational orientation. Self-determination to learn the minority language and minority literacy skills seems to transfer across languages. Research results support the model; these are summarized and educational implications are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Minority Group Children, Literacy Education, Bilingualism, Self Determination
(2009). A Collision of Culture, Values, and Education Policy: Scrapping Early French Immersion in New Brunswick, Education Canada. A CBC New Brunswick Forum broadcast live on March 27, 2008, from Moncton's Capitol Theatre provided a cathartic moment for parents angry at Education Minister Kelly Lamrock, who was linked into the discussion via satellite from Fredericton. Two weeks earlier, Minister Lamrock had declared in a press release that bilingualism was changing from an optional skill pursued by a few to an expectation for all children. His new French-second-language (FSL) plan called for the elimination of the Grade 1 Early French Immersion (EFI) Entry Point in favour of a Grade 5 Late Immersion Entry Point. The Moncton Forum showcased the passion and polarization caused by the government's proposed changes. On one hand, a government was taking measures that it felt were necessary for more equitable student academic outcomes, and on the other, an outspoken segment of citizens was vehemently protecting the status quo. In Canada's only officially bilingual province, this was more than a difficult policy decision–it erupted into a collision of culture and values. Soon after the Moncton showdown, Willms released a policy brief–"The Case for Universal French Instruction"–where he positioned EFI in the context of segregation, or "the separation of people of different social classes, ethnic or racial groups, or sexes into different schools, neighbourhoods, or social institutions." This provocative assertion irked many parents with children enrolled or soon-to-be registered in EFI–many of whom were EFI graduates themselves. Willms' "intolerable equilibrium" has snapped back, halfway at least; less radical changes to the original EFI program have made changing the status quo more tolerable for many New Brunswickers. Testing the limits of this equilibrium became a tool for change, no matter what side of the argument citizens supported. [More] Descriptors: Educational Change, Foreign Countries, French, Immersion Programs
(2009). In and out of the Matrix: Three Elementary Pre-Service Teachers' Reflective Journeys toward Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, ProQuest LLC. Heeding Hillard's call for teachers to crack the walls of the matrix (inequitable schooling), this qualitative case study used Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory as a theoretical lens and methodological tool to investigate the reflections of three elementary pre-service teachers. The first research question examined participants' reflections as they were learning about teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students. The second question explored how these reflections connected to their developing culturally relevant beliefs and practices. To investigate these research questions the data sources collected for each participant included a pre/post Love & Kruger questionnaire, three individual semi-structured interview transcripts, eight written course documents, and two individual member written records. Cross case and within case analyses were conducted using a priori and open coding for all data and utilized the analytic strategy of "relying on theoretical propositions". The theoretical proposition for this study was that teachers who reflected across systems of influences had more culturally relevant beliefs and practices. Findings from the cross case analysis suggested that (a) participants' had shared patterns of reflectivity (b) drew upon multiple tools of references when confronted with less culturally relevant teaching in the field and program and (c) some course assignments facilitated participants' reflection across systems more than others. The results from the within case analysis suggested that (a) participants' racial identity experiences were the lenses they used to reflect on what being a culturally relevant teacher meant (b) some participants experienced cultural dissonance in the teacher development program as they considered culturally relevant pedagogy and (c) critical reflections across systems of influence revealed more developed understandings of culturally relevant pedagogy. This study offers insights about using critical reflectivity in developing pre-service teachers' understandings of culturally relevant pedagogy. [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: Culturally Relevant Education, Systems Approach, Racial Identification, Interviews
(2009). Inquiry and Ideology: Teaching Everyday Forms of Historical Thinking, ProQuest LLC. In this design-based study, an eleven-week curricular module in recent American history was developed that departed from both the epistemology and ideology of traditional textbooks. The curriculum instantiated a constructivist epistemology by having students assess multiple historical narratives and sources of evidence. It instantiated a critical-multiculturalist ideology by probing into topics related to poverty, racial inequality, and the Vietnam War. The curriculum also emphasized everyday forms of historical thinking that citizens utilize in their daily lives over disciplinary forms utilized by professional historians. The aim was for the recent past to elucidate public issues of the present. The curriculum was taught to two ninth grade classes at a rural high school in the Midwest. Ninety-six percent of the students in the classes were white, but they were socio-economically, academically, and ideologically diverse. The researcher conducted daily observations, collected student assignments, audio-recorded discussions, and interviewed the teacher and a portion of the students. Four questions were asked of the data: Did the curriculum work as intended? What did students learn from it? How did the students and teacher respond to the pedagogy employed? And did the curriculum avoid indoctrination? At the curriculum's outset, students' ability to make sense of a current public issue was thwarted by gaps in their understanding of American history. The curriculum succeeded in teaching a set of intellectual tools designed to improve their understanding: judging among two competing interpretations of an event, assessing the credibility and significance of historical accounts, weaving multiple accounts into a coherent narrative, tracing an issue's development over a long span of time, and considering prior approaches to addressing a social problem. At the outset, students also endorsed the dominant American narrative of exceptionalism, progress, and opportunity. Units on the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement prompted reflection on those narratives and altered many students' beliefs about race and foreign policy. Students remained committed, however, to the notions of meritocracy and "white innocence." They appreciated hearing multiple perspectives on the issues addressed but often falsely assumed that the curriculum itself was politically neutral. [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: Constructivism (Learning), Assignments, United States History, Social Problems
(2014). The Correlates of Academic Performance for English Language Learner Students in a New England District. REL 2014-020, Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands. This study examined student and program characteristics that are related to English proficiency and content area achievement for English language learner (ELL) students in one urban district in Connecticut. The study found that ELL students in special education had English proficiency scores significantly lower than the mean for all ELL students in all grades, and that students' English proficiency scores were associated with both math and reading performance in all grades. Results also showed that there were no clear patterns in the relationship between the type of ELL program attended and students' English proficiency, math, or reading scores. The following are appended: (1) Literature review; (2) About the Language Assessment Systems Links assessment; (3) Measures of academic achievement; (4) Analysis sample; (5) Analysis methods; (6) Description of variable coding schemes for models; and (7) Regression tables. [This report was written in collaboration with the English Language Learners Alliance. For the companion summary report, "The Correlates of Academic Performance for English Language Learner Students in a New England District. Stated Briefly. REL 2014-021," see ED546481.] [More] Descriptors: English Language Learners, Urban Schools, School Districts, Language Proficiency