This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Fang Gao, Claire E. Sylvan, Kathryn Chval, F. Tupas, Rihana S. Williams, Allison K. Dyrlund, Carol Connor, Jacqueline Jones Royster, Andrea Szulc, and Mayra C. Daniel.
(2009). Becoming "Neuquino" in Mapuzugun: Teaching Mapuche Language and Culture in the Province of Neuquen, Argentina, Anthropology & Education Quarterly. This article explores the sense of belonging promoted by the current program of Educacion Intercultural Bilingue (EIB) of the province of Neuquen for Mapuche children, examining the design and implementation of this program. The analysis reveals how this program reinforces a hegemonic definition of Mapuche identity, which relegates Mapuche culture to times past and to a rural setting. At the same time, the program subordinates the Mapuche identity to the provincial realm, and merges it with the Argentine and Catholic identities in supposed "harmony." [More] Descriptors: Rural Schools, Foreign Countries, Program Design, Program Implementation
(2009). Modeling Oral Reading Fluency Development in Latino Students: A Longitudinal Study across Second and Third Grade, Journal of Educational Psychology. This study examines growth in oral reading fluency across 2nd and 3rd grade for Latino students grouped in 3 English proficiency levels: students receiving English as a second language (ESL) services (n = 2,182), students exited from ESL services (n = 965), and students never designated as needing services (n = 1,857). An important focus was to learn whether, within these 3 groups, proficiency levels and growth were reliably related to special education status. Using hierarchical linear modeling, the authors compared proficiency levels and growth in oral reading fluency in English between and within groups and then to state reading benchmarks. Findings indicate that oral reading fluency scores reliably distinguished between students with learning disabilities and typically developing students within each group (effect sizes ranging from 0.96 to 1.51). The growth trajectory included a significant quadratic trend (generally slowing over time). These findings support the effectiveness of using oral reading fluency in English to screen and monitor reading progress under Response to Intervention models, but also suggest caution in interpreting oral reading fluency data as part of the process in identifying students with learning disabilities. [More] Descriptors: Reading Fluency, Effect Size, Grade 3, Grade 2
(2009). Nurturing "School Minds", Education Week. Through order and English immersion, a network of charter schools strives to turn Latino students into informed citizens and leaders inside and outside the community. Chicago-based United Neighborhood Organization, or UNO, is a Latino advocacy group with a history of community organizing. The group recently received a $98 million grant from the state of Illinois to open new schools. That is believed to be the largest grant of public capital funds to a U.S. charter school operator. Juan Rangel, the chief executive officer of the organization, preaches the value of a disciplined school climate, and imparts that philosophy to students and staff, along with other goals that are set for the schools, from the top down. The network's overall mission is to foster a culture that can turn out students who are leaders in the community and beyond. [More] Descriptors: Charter Schools, Grants, Hispanic Americans, Advocacy
(2011). Achievement and Language Proficiency of Latino Students in Dual Language Programmes: Native English Speakers, Fluent English/Previous ELLs, and Current ELLs, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. This article examines the language proficiency and achievement outcomes of Latino students enrolled in a dual language programme who varied by language proficiency (Native English speakers, Current English Language Learners–ELLs, Fluent English Proficient/Previous ELLs). Most previous research has not disaggregated Latino students, especially ELLs. The purpose of this research is to examine the achievement and language proficiency of 732 Grade 4 to Grade 8 Latino students enrolled in a dual language programme who differed by language proficiency. Results show that these Latino student groups achieve at higher levels than their peers in English mainstream. Findings also indicated that the three groups vary in parent education, language proficiency in Spanish, and achievement as measured in Spanish and English. Further, Fluent English Proficient/Previous ELLs are the most Spanish proficient and bilingual, achieve at higher levels in English and Spanish, and close the achievement gap with native English speakers in English mainstream programmes. [More] Descriptors: Achievement Gap, Parent Background, Educational Attainment, Second Language Learning
(2009). Model Minority, Self-Perception and Schooling: Multiple Voices of Korean Students in China, Asia Pacific Journal of Education. Koreans have been successful in nesting their educational achievement in places like China, where they have earned the title of the "model minority", due primarily to their educational success. Drawing on data from ethnographic research on fourth-grade Korean students in a bilingual Korean school, this article examines the relationship between student self-perception and attitude towards schooling underlying the model minority stereotype. Research results lead us to argue that ethnic Korean students in China do not have a shared self-perception, and so do not share a homogeneous attitude towards schooling, contrary to the stereotype of them as a monolithic group with high educational levels and shared attitudes towards learning. This article emphasizes the need to re-examine the model minority stereotype and its cultural ecological theory, and to include the voices of ethnic Korean students in the analysis of the model minority stereotype at a time of transition and change. [More] Descriptors: Stereotypes, Academic Achievement, Ethnography, Foreign Countries
(2011). Teachers' Perceptions of the Use of ASL Phonological Instruction to Develop ASL and English Literacy in an ASL/English Bilingual Preschool, ProQuest LLC. This dissertation study seeks to understand how teachers who work in an ASL/English bilingual educational program for preschool children conceptualize and utilize phonological instruction of American Sign Language (ASL). While instruction that promotes phonological awareness of spoken English is thought to provide educational benefits to young children in terms of language proficiency and reading development, there is limited understanding of how deaf children may similarly benefit from the phonological instruction of ASL. Part of the resistance in promoting ASL may be related to how signs native to ASL do not directly map onto written English in the same way that spoken English does. However, ASL does incorporate the use of the manual alphabet, which is a manual representation of the English alphabet, and many signs in ASL do have partial or full overlap to words in the orthography of English. ASL also has the added benefit of being considered the natural language for deaf people, which allows teachers with the means to promote ASL phonological instruction in ways that allow students to access and utilize a language in ways that can maximize their ability to process information. Data were collected through teacher interviews and a follow-up survey. Interviews were conducted with preschool teachers and ASL specialists to gain insight into how they conceptualize and engage in phonological instruction with their deaf students. Interview questions focused on how teachers used phonological instruction for ASL development and also to enhance the student's understanding of English. A follow-up survey was sent to the teachers with the intent of corroborating the findings in the interviews and to identify patterns of instruction that were prevalent within the individual classes. The analysis was conducted through a grounded theory approach that identified major themes that emerged from the data (Charmaz, 2006; Strauss & Corbin, 1990). [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: American Sign Language, Phonology, Teaching Methods, English
(2009). Contextualizing Multilingualism in Morocco, GIST Education and Learning Research Journal. This article discusses the educational system of Morocco and the ways the country's multilingual history has influenced and continues to direct the choice of the languages used in schools. Suggestions that will eliminate cultural mismatch and thus facilitate interactions with Moroccan students and their families are included. The research focuses initially on the linguistic complexity within Morocco. The numerous languages spoken by Moroccans and the situational needs for interacting in a specific language create educational needs and everyday challenges that are prevalent in third-world countries. Educators in Morocco and other countries face similar challenges, which might delay educational progress in some countries, but appears to positively encourage Moroccans toward the lofty goal of assuring that all children receive the education needed to strengthen a country and educate its people. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Bilingualism, Bilingual Education, Language of Instruction
(2011). Re-Mediating Second Language Acquisition: A Sociocultural Perspective for Language Development, Mind, Culture, and Activity. This article provides a cultural-historical (CHAT) analysis of the practices used by an effective teacher of Latino/a children previously classified as "underachieving" and "beginning/novice" English Language Learners. Although the teacher would not describe her practices in strict CHAT, or sociocultural theory (SCT) terms, our analysis shows that teaching practices in this classroom are better understood using a SCT model rather than more prevalent second language acquisition (SLA) models that dominate the field of bilingual/English as a Second Language education. We describe the fundamental limitations of SLA assumptions about learners vis-a-vis a SCT perspective and use classroom and case study data to illustrate how a CHAT perspective illuminates this teacher's practices. From a CHAT perspective, teaching and learning are socially reorganized around the mediation of dynamic learner identities and include shifts in expert-novice status, dialogic interactions, and the use of innovative mediational tools (e.g., keystrokes on a calculator) to promote academic writing and oral communication. The mediational reorganization described in the classroom opened up access to students who might have been dismissed by a SLA model as "incapable" of engaging in such tasks. We draw on classroom-level data (i.e., standardized scores in reading and math) as well as the work of selected focal students to illustrate our case. [More] Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Teaching Methods, Hispanic American Students, Underachievement
(2011). Pedagogies and Practices in Multilingual Classrooms: Singularities in Pluralities, Modern Language Journal. Bilingual classrooms most often have strict language arrangements about when and who should speak what language to whom. This practice responds to diglossic arrangements and models of bilingualism developed in the 20th century. However, in the 21st century, heteroglossic bilingual conceptualizations are needed in which the complex discursive practices of multilingual students, their translanguagings, are used in sense-making and in tending to the singularities in the pluralities that make up multilingual classrooms today. Examining the case of a network of U.S. secondary schools for newcomer immigrants, the International High Schools, this article looks at how students' plurilingual abilities are built through seven principles that support dynamic plurilingual practices in instruction–heterogeneity, collaboration, learner-centeredness, language and content integration, language use from students up, experiential learning, and local autonomy and responsibility. As a result, students become not only more knowledgeable and academically successful but also more confident users of academic English, better at translanguaging, and more plurilingual-proficient. The article presents translanguaging in education as the constant adaptation of linguistic resources in the service of meaning-making and in tending to the singularities in the pluralities that make up multilingual classrooms today. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Multilingualism, Experiential Learning, Immigrants
(2011). The Influence of Dual Language Education upon the Development of English Reading Skills of Kindergarten through Grade Two Students, ProQuest LLC. The purpose of this inductive and quantitative research study is to examine the influence of dual language education upon the development of literacy skills in English proficient kindergarten through grade 2 students. Secondly, this research is purposed to aid in filling the void in the limited way in which educational researchers have examined quantitative research of early elementary English proficient dual language students' reading development disaggregated by gender and ethnicity. Finally, this study is purposed to be utilized as an integral component of the discussions leading to policy and program creation and change by educational leaders. An equal number of students from the dual language and the English only environments for each grade level were selected. Baseline equivalency testing was conducted to test for significant differences between groups. Both groups reflected comparable amounts of students in respect to gender and racial/ethnic representations. Students were selected for the sample based on a systematic random sample technique. Every third English only environment student with valid assessment scores was eliminated from the data pool. The remaining students comprised the sample population. The study analyzed pre and post test measures of English proficient students' performance on the Developmental Reading Assessment-Second Edition (DRA2). Scores were compared using Pearson's Layered Chi-Square Contingency Test of Independence Analysis. This study was to more acutely investigate the gradation of DRA2 performance by cohort, ethnicity, and gender. Overall, the results indicate a significant change in overall reading ability for all students with English speaking proficiency in all grade levels for all years. This research study implies there was a significant positive change in the overall reading ability of predominantly non-White and female students in either program who were also in grade 1. This research study also implies there was a significant negative change in overall reading ability of predominantly Latino and male students in kindergarten English only environments. This research study does not conclude there is a direct influence of dual language education upon the English reading skills of kindergarten through grade 2 students. [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: Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, Reading Skills
(2011). Supporting Early Writing in Dual Language Head Start Classrooms, NHSA Dialog. The following research-to-practice summary addresses the findings from the original intervention study and provides specific guidance for early childhood practitioners. These recommendations respond to a current and growing concern on how to implement developmental, cultural, and linguistically appropriate curricula, namely, recommendations focus on describing effective teaching practices that promote school readiness in classrooms with children who are dual language learners. In addition, the summary describes how the curriculum was implemented, using an explicit instructional design that embedded early writing and print knowledge in a developmental sequence to support learning new concepts and ideas. Additional suggestions on culturally and linguistically responsive teaching and learning practices are provided. [More] Descriptors: Curriculum Development, Instructional Design, School Readiness, Teacher Effectiveness
(2009). Roots of Federal ELL Case Run Deep, Education Week. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments later this month from a class action Miriam Flores, 42-year-old Mexican-born homemaker, joined on behalf of her first child in 1996. The lawsuit, Flores v. State of Arizona, contends that programs for English-language learners in Nogales are deficient and receive inadequate funding from the state. Since it was filed in 1992, the lawsuit has pitted state officials against one another, and it has forced Nogales and school districts statewide to change the way they serve English-learners, including separating them for long periods of the day from other students. One of the state's arguments is that compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act trumps civil rights law, said Roger L. Rice, the executive director of Multicultural Education, Training, and Advocacy Inc., a Somerville, Mass.-based advocacy group for ELLs. On the other hand, he said, if the court ruled in favor of the Flores side of the case and said clearly that states have an obligation to sufficiently fund ELLs under civil rights law, advocates could go to court in states that do not provide any additional funds for such students and make the same argument that the Nogales parents have made. The outcome of this case before the Supreme Court could have further ramifications, not only for Arizona but also for districts and ELLs nationwide. [More] Descriptors: State Officials, Court Litigation, Federal Legislation, Civil Rights
(2011). Opinion: Language Difference in Writing–Toward a Translingual Approach, College English. Arguing against the emphasis of traditional U.S. composition classes on linguistically homogeneous situations, the authors contend that this focus is at odds with actual language use today. They call for a translingual approach, which they define as seeing difference in language not as a barrier to overcome or as a problem to manage, but as a resource for producing meaning in writing, speaking, reading, and listening. [More] Descriptors: Writing Instruction, Writing (Composition), Language Usage, Second Language Learning
(2009). Language as a Problem of Development: Ideological Debates and Comprehensive Education in the Philippines, AILA Review. Fixation on language in language policy debates is not a natural given. In fact, it has to be re-examined. This paper argues that another effective way to look at language policy is to suspend talk on language, and instead first engage with social development issues where people are at the heart of the social landscape. It discusses three ways of engagement with language policy as seen in the landscape of the politics of language, education and social development in the Philippines. The first way is engaging language policy which means debating the key features of the existing language policy usually based on ideological concerns. The second way is re-engaging language policy which highlights previously sidelined provisions of the policy such as those concerning local languages in education. The third way is disengaging from language policy which primarily sees language policy as part of a general social development framework, i.e. the imperative to focus on specific needs of local communities from which the roles of language emerge. The key point to note is that language does not seem to figure as a fundamental problem that needs to be addressed. [More] Descriptors: Language Planning, Foreign Countries, Public Policy, Social Development
(2011). Learning from Each Other: Bilingual Pairs in Dual-Language Classrooms, Dimensions of Early Childhood. Early education programs in the United States are experiencing an increase in the number of English learners and, consequently, an increase in dual-language programs that best serve the needs of these children. Dual-language programs enable children to communicate orally and in written forms in both their native languages and in English. This article describes one effective approach that can be implemented by teachers with a range of language skills. Teachers who speak one language, or teachers of children who speak a language unfamiliar to them, are urged to find multilingual family members or teacher assistants who can assist with implementing the communication strategies outlined in this article. All teachers are encouraged to learn at least a few key words and phrases in children's home languages to facilitate children's daily learning experiences. [More] Descriptors: Communication Strategies, Multilingualism, Second Language Learning, Language Skills