This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include San Antonio Intercultural Development Research Association, Sergius J. Ballantine, Helga Silva, Jim Okutsu, Brooklyn. Office of Educational Assessment. New York City Board of Education, James Brougham, Sherri Roberts, Toowong (Australia). Queensland Board of Teacher Education, Brooklyn New York City Board of Education, and Shawn Neal Mahshie.
(1980). Multicultural Education. Policies formulated by the Board of Education in Queensland, Australia regarding multicultural education are presented in this document. A review of population statistics and immigration projections established the need for multicultural education. The retention and promotion of cultural diversity among various ethnic groups is considered the primary goal of government involvement in multicultural education. Specialized graduate courses, training in bilingual programs, and teaching practice in classrooms with bilingual students are recommended, and colleges are encouraged to provide curriculum offerings on multiculturalism. Teacher certification is endorsed; the Board of Education has extended guidelines for provisional registration and has decided to discuss with teacher education institutions the appropriate preparation of teachers. Preservice programs are suggested, as is continuing teacher education. A survey scheduled during 1981 was designed to examine all teacher education institutions in order to obtain information and comments on multicultural education. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Cultural Differences, Educational Policy, Foreign Countries
(1983). A Study of the Effects of English-Medium Education on Initially Monoglot Spanish-Speaking Gibraltarian Children. This investigation arose from concern about the linguistic and educational development of several dozen students aged 12-14 from the English comprehensive secondary schools in Gibraltar. These students, whose dominant language was Yanito-Spanish (the local vernacular), were administered a series of assessment measures. These included: (1) a word association task to determine whether the learning situation was conducive to stable or unstable bilingualism, (2) a word naming test to assess the use of the two languages, (3) a picture naming test to assess the children's ability to produce one-word and one-sentence utterances following a visual stimulus, (4) a picture composition test to assess the quality of language use in both languages, and (5) a test of linguistic-cognitive flexibility. In addition, statistical analyses of results of standard public examinations administered to Gibraltarian students 16 and older between 1977 and 1982 were used to investigate a possible link between language development and educational attainment. The results indicate that the students encounter linguistic difficulties related to vagueness of lexical distinctions, lack of competence in performance, interference between languages and the use of nonnativelike strategies, and phonomorphological incompetence, resulting in delayed linguistic development. It was also found that these children had more difficulty with language-based subjects than with mathematics and other technical subjects and that many of the children had limited flexibility and cognitive development and had not reached the level of bilingualism at which they can begin to attain its benefits. A bilingual educational system is recommended for Gibraltar to accommodate the bilingual community. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Elementary Secondary Education, English (Second Language), Foreign Countries
(1984). Project Assist: Counseling, Communication and Instruction. Placement Procedures Handbook. A Systematic Method Developed for Programming Recent Immigrants in a Linguistically Comprehensible Academic Program. Title VII Demonstration Project 1981-1984. This handbook outlines procedures for placing recent immigrants into linguistically comprehensible school programs at Ocean View Junior High School (Oxnard, California). First, a chart is presented which breaks down the placement process into three stages (identification, assessment, and placement) and identifies the site or person responsible at each stage. Next, the activities at each stage are outlined in greater detail, and a chart is provided which contrasts the different tracks taken by English-speaking and non-English-speaking students after taking a Home Language Questionnaire. Courses of study are then outlined for students at various levels of English proficiency. Criteria are listed for the transition of a Limited English Proficient (LEP) student to English Reading and for reclassification of the LEP as Fluent English Proficient. Finally, the placement interview form and the home language survey (English and Spanish versions) are provided. Descriptors: Bilingual Education Programs, Immigrants, Junior High Schools, Language Proficiency
(1997). What's Up, Billy Jo? Deaf Children and Bilingual-Bicultural Instruction in East-Central Texas, American Annals of the Deaf. Details the backgrounds of seven children with deafness and their families and describes their experiences in a bilingual/bicultural prekindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade from 1993 to 1996. After completion of first grade, six of the children tested at grade level on cognition and academic achievement tests. Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Bilingual Education Programs, Cultural Awareness, Deafness
(1985). The Children of Mariel From Shock to Integration: Cuban Refugee Children in South Florida Schools. This report describes the impact on the Dade County, Florida, public school system of the 125 Cuban (and some Haitian) refugees arriving in the Mariel exodus. In September 1980 the school system had to absorb 13,000 new refugee students. Preparing for the students included hiring many bilingual teachers, reopening schools that had closed, establishing special entrant schools and programs, and obtaining funding. In the first year overcrowding was a drastic problem, with as many as 60 students in some classes. Many of the students were not well prepared, with median scores of 33% in basic reading skills and 24% in mathematics tests in Spanish. A further problem was the Marxist education the children had received in Cuba, which meant that there were extreme differences in the educational material they had covered and the methodology they were accustomed to. In general, it is reported, the schools were successful in accomodating these students, although some students "fell through the cracks" and others–mostly older unaccompanied minors–were never enrolled in the schools. The report concludes with a description of ongoing concerns, including the lack of an adequate Federal government response to the crisis and related experiences with Nicaraguan refugees. Included are a bibliography, appendices outlining costs of the refugee program, recommended instruction materials for students with limited English proficiency, a listing of programs for limited English proficient students, and a comparison of elementary school programs for students classified independent in English versus those limited in English. [More] Descriptors: Acculturation, Bilingual Education Programs, Bilingual Teachers, Cubans
(1985). Project MAS 1983-84. O.E.A. Evaluation Section Report. Project MAS, in its second year of a three year funding cycle (1983-84), is a multi-site program providing instruction in English as a second language and native language arts, and bilingual instruction in math and science. It serves approximately 400 Spanish speaking students of limited English proficiency, in grades 3 through 8 at four Bronx, New York, schools. The funding sources for the project are tax levy, Chapter I, and Title VII. The program includes training sessions for paraprofessionals, resource teachers, project directors, and classroom teachers. Parents are also involved. Program objectives were assessed in English language development, mastery of the native language, and mathematics with the following results: (1) Fourth- and fifth-grade students made significant gains in English; (2) high pre-test scores in Spanish restricted their gains in the native language; however, seventh- and eighth-grade students tested at level 3 of the Spanish Language Assesement Battery did make significant gains; (3) students made significant gains in math in grades three and seven and losses in grade six. The following recommendations are made to improve the program: (1) develop strategies to expand the project in the absence of Title VII funding; (2) expand the concept of language teaching through science and math to other content areas; (3) emphasize small group instruction; (4) adjust future staff development activities to the less receptive classrooms; (5) use a different instrument to measure gains in Spanish; and (6) test student performance in science to determine student progress and evaluate program outcomes. Descriptors: Bilingual Education Programs, Elementary Education, English (Second Language), Language Arts
(1981). Language Proficiency Assessment Committees, Training Packet. The Langugage Proficiency Assessment Committees (LPACs) authorized by Congress were given the responsibility of assessing limited-English-speaking students within a school district and making placement recommendations regarding these students to the local school board. This packet consists of a variety of materials, mostly handouts to assist in the training of members of an LPAC, in a workshop setting. A variety of forms, charts, and outlines are included, as well as masters for transparencies. These materials are designed to explain the legislative background of the LPAC, to introduce the participants to principles and methods of assessment, and to provide graphic support for the prodecures to be followed in placing students within an individual school district. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Committees, Community Organizations, Elementary Secondary Education
(1986). Dewitt Clinton High School Project BISECT 1983-1984. O.E.A. Evaluation Report. Project Bilingual Spanish-to-English Career Training (BISECT), in its second year of funding, offers bilingual instruction, career awareness development, and support services to 283 Hispanic students of limited English proficiency (LEP) in a high school in Bronx, New York. Program objectives were assessed in English language development, mathematics, science, social studies, career or vocational courses, and attendance. Quantitative analysis of the data indicated that program students: (1) mastered more than one Criterion Referenced English Syntax Test (CREST) objective per month in English as a second language, meeting program objectives; (2) were enrolled in mainstream content-area classes (25% in at least one course per semester); (3) exceeded the program objective (85% passing) in career and vocational subjects in both semesters; and (4) attended the program at a significantly higher rate than the school-wide attendance rate. The project's success is attributed to staff competence and commitment, program organization, curriculum development, and parental involvement. Recommendations for program improvement include recruitment of fully bilingual staff in mathematics and science, more individualized attention to problem students, offering algebra as part of the curriculum, and including non-bilingual school personnel in the in-service training activities. The appendices include information on staff characteristics and a listing of career courses available to students in and out of school. Descriptors: Bilingual Education Programs, Career Guidance, English (Second Language), High Schools
(1981). The Measurement of Language Diversity. Accepting that language diversity is functionally related to other variables characterizing human societies, much discussion stems from the advantages or disadvantageous nature of language diversity in terms of national development and national unity. To discover ways of measuring language diversity would help, in part, to solve the language diversity issue; however, the lack of consistency and agreement in the definition of the two viewpoints hampers the language planners. Bearing in mind that any language diversity measure takes into consideration all languages present and considers the numbers of users of the languages, the coupling of these two independent variables renders the elimination of all ambiguity impossible in a diversity measure. For example, a society bearing a large number of languages with widely differing numbers of users will have the same diversity measurement as one characterized by a smaller number of languages but greater evenness of user distribution. The diversity measurement must be related to both the number of languages and the degree of evenness of user distribution. Using indices and equation models of the research of language planners, this document sets out to define properties which a language diversity index should exhibit, using both sample and census data. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Language Proficiency, Language Standardization
(1984). Walton High School Bilingual Language Arts Survival Training, 1983-1984. O.E.A. Evaluation Report. This evaluation report summarizes results of the Bilingual Language Arts Program (BLAST), Walton High School, Bronx, New York, 1983-1984. BLAST was designed as a transitional program emphasizing student integration into society. The program provided instruction in English as a second language and native language arts, as well as bilingual instruction in social studies, science, mathematics, typing, and career orientation. Quantitative analysis of student achievement data indicates that: (1) most program students manifested improved oral/aural English language skills on the New York City Fluency Scale; (2) the yearly average passing rate for students in E.S.L. classes was 72%; (3) students demonstrated overall passing rates of 95% (fall) and 98% (spring) on both the city-wide and Regents examinations in Spanish; (4) overall passing rates in mathematics, science, and social studies courses were quite similar for both program and mainstream students; (5) overall passing rates in elective career courses were high; and (6) the attendance rate of program students was statistically significantly higher than the attendance rate of the school as a whole. Recommendations for improving the program include developing health careers and computer literacy components, a bilingual program counselor, guidance office follow-up of students in mainstream classes, recruitment of a certified bilingual mathematics teacher, and workshops for project and school staff to further educate them in bilingual curricula. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education Programs, English (Second Language), High Schools, Native Language Instruction
(1980). Japanese American Studies in Higher Education. This paper reviews the results of a survey of institutions of higher education which offer coursework focusing on Japanese Americans and emphasizes the program in Japanese American Studies at San Francisco State University. The results showed a distribution of twenty-eight courses offered at fifteen institutions in California, Washington and Hawaii, with the greatest number of courses being offered at San Francisco State University. A review of course content showed that thirteen are survey courses on the Japanese American experience; seven are about the American concentration camps set up during World War II; and six are on Japanese American culture. The paper stresses the importance of a balanced curriculum including courses in Japanese American history, community, social sciences and culture. Descriptors: Area Studies, Bilingual Education, College Curriculum, Course Content
(1995). The Second Language Component of Primary French Immersion Programs in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Bilingual Research Journal. Describes a long-standing Montreal bilingual program that completely immerses Anglophone students in a French academic context. Support from the target-language culture and environmental reinforcements contribute to students' academic success and steady program enrollment. Such immersion education has produced functionally bilingual Anglophone students but does little to further cross-cultural interaction between Anglophone and Francophone communities. Descriptors: Bilingual Education Programs, Elementary Secondary Education, Elitism, Foreign Countries
(1997). A First Language: Whose Choice Is It? Sharing Ideas. This paper examines issues that affect decisions about providing language for a deaf or hard of hearing child. It considers what has been learned where parent-infant support and early educational placements are characterized by efforts to expose deaf children, of both deaf and hearing parents, to whole language/s that children find accessible for face-to-face interaction. Also discussed is what has been learned from interviewing and observing parents, teachers, researchers, and deaf students in settings in Sweden and Denmark where efforts in this direction have resulted in graduates whose achievement and literacy levels are on par with their hearing peers. In these countries, it is the child's predisposition toward a more oral or more visual language that determines the choice of a first language. Topics discussed include different paths to bilingualism; emphasis on the whole child; observing the child's behavior in natural communicative settings; cognitive academic language proficiency; the importance of high expectations; speech skills; a cost-benefit perspective; residual hearing; critical periods and spoken language; critical periods and sign language; and the importance of natural language. (Contains approximately 60 references.) [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Comparative Education, Deafness, Decision Making
(1980). Evaluation of the 1979-80 Title VII Bilingual Demonstration Project. This report examines the effectiveness in 1979-80 of a Title VII bilingual (Spanish-English) demonstration project carried out for third and/or fourth graders in four public and two private schools in Dallas, Texas. Included are a list of evaluation questions and description of results. Information is provided on the ethnic characteristics of participating students, characteristics of students and project instructional staff, the attitudes of parents and teachers toward the program, student achievement gains as measured by Test of General Ability, bilingual computer-assisted instruction for third grade students, and the effectiveness of management activities classroom instruction. Also reported are personnel distribution among participating schools, topics and attendance record for project workshops, and topics and schedule of parent advisory committee meetings. Descriptors: Achievement Gains, Bilingual Education, Demonstration Programs, Elementary Education
(1981). Culturally Responsive Education: Where Are We, Where Are We Going and How Do We Get There?. The paper addresses the state of the art in the area of culturally and linguistically responsive special education as it relates to handicapped linguistic minority students. Seven realities are outlined: (1) the population of linguistically and culturally different children is growing in public schools; (2) most linguistically and culturally different students are receiving inappropriate services in regular education programs; (3) linguistic/cultural minority students in public schools have been erroneously misclassified as students needing or not needing special education services; (4) there are very few school systems that have developed and implemented a comprehensive systematic procedure for evaluating culturally and linguistically different students; (5) school systems desperately need trained bilingual/bicultural educators who represent the target population in order to provide the needed direct services; (6) all educators need professional development in order to be active participants in developing and implementing culturally responsive education; and (7) school systems at a building level need to develop and implement creative models in order to be able to diagnose, prescribe, and deliver culturally responsive educational programs to minority students. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Cultural Differences, Disabilities, Educational Needs