COMSIS Corp., Wheaton, MD. (1995). COMSIS Mid-Atlantic Multifunctional Resource Center. Contract Year Three, 1994-1995. Annual Report. This report details and evaluates the third year of the Mid-Atlantic Multifunctional Resource Center, a program providing training and technical assistance to educators and parents of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in an area including Delaware, the District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. The program's ultimate goal is to increase the effectiveness of instruction to maximize LEP student learning and achievement. Providing services to such a diverse area required flexibility of programs, continuous clarification of needs, and well-thought-out plans for internalizing and institutionalizing training. In the third year, the program completed all deliverables in its baseline management plan, conducted 93 major training and technical assistance activities, and responded to 998 quick action requests. Training participants numbered 1,653, with teachers the most common participants, and administrators and project directors a substantial proportion. A major activity was long- and short-term local staff development planning. Coordination with other agencies was another major focus of effort. Trends and issues fared currently include changes in school governance, collaboration across programs, alternative assessment, assessment aligned to high standards and revised curricula, and effective use of educational technology.   [More]  Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Education Service Centers, English (Second Language), Inservice Teacher Education

Blase, Philip; And Others (1995). Kwakiutl Native Americans of the American Northwest. The theme of this unit is "Kwakiutl Native Americans of the American Northwest." The content is based on the third grade text of the Houghton Mifflin Social Studies curriculum entitled "From Sea to Shining Sea," and includes learning experiences in social studies, math, science, language arts, music, drama, art, and physical education. The text's objectives include: (1) identity who the Kwakiutl were and where they lived; (2) describe their way of life; (3) identify natural resources used by the Kwakiutl; (4) describe their beliefs about nature; (5) identify the importance of woodcarving; (6) describe Kwakiutl canoes and totem poles; and (7) explain how the Kwakiutl used wood carvings in ceremonies. The primary language lessons are the same regardless of which language the students speak, but the fluent English speakers are taught in English, and the other students are taught the lesson in their own language. The main concepts of all eight subjects are covered by the primary language teacher in the primary to support the students' learning in the specially designed academic instruction in English courses. Cross-cultural/self-esteem component of instruction is included in the lessons taught throughout the program. Lessons include homework and a student portfolio that is completed daily. Parent/community involvement is essential and encouraged by a full-time parent/community resource coordinator. Field trips for parents/students and babysitters should also be included. The text includes listings of self-esteem adjectives/actions and vocabulary and guidelines for content outline by subject matter being taught.   [More]  Descriptors: American Indian Studies, Bilingual Education, Class Activities, Cross Cultural Studies

Boduch, Judy; Pravdica, Suzette (1995). Mutually Beneficial Teamwork between Bilingual and Mainstream Classes. A three-year program to bring together third-grade students in a self-contained bilingual classroom and a mainstream classroom is described. The project was designed to reduce the isolation of the bilingual students and prejudice toward them shown by mainstream students. During the first year, gym and music classes were combined, students were teamed in pairs or trios for science and social studies, and combined classes viewed and discussed curriculum-related films weekly. In the second year, combined gym and music classes were continued, adjacent classrooms were used, students from each class were paired for weekly lessons, new teacher training was undertaken, students wrote individual logs and paired to create a publication in English and Spanish. In the third year, these principles and additional lessons learned from experience about grouping students were implemented. As a result, students are getting along better, sharing work equally and working well together, and playing together during recess, and establishing friendships. It is concluded that the program also facilitates mainstreaming.   [More]  Descriptors: Attitude Change, Bilingual Education Programs, Cooperative Learning, English (Second Language)

Segan, Frances (1994). Project Unity: Short-Term Training Program. 1993-94 Evaluation Report, Three-Year Overview. OER Report. Project Unity was a project funded by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title VII in its third and final year of operation in 1993-94. The project provided instruction to teachers of students with limited English proficiency in both special and general education classes in New York City public schools. Teachers participated in an initial 2-hour plenary session followed by a seminar series. The initial seminar focused on the selection and development of a collaborative model for each school and a presentation that linked language and culture. Other seminars were devoted to such topics as a school-based model for different levels of language proficiency, serving bilingual students through mainstreaming, curriculum and instructional adaptations, individualizing instruction, multicultural awareness, and interrelationships between general and special education teachers. Subsequent to each seminar, the teachers shared information about their community, school, and students and created an action plan for their individual school. Project staff made field visits to teachers to discuss problems, plans, and progress. This evaluation report describes the project and indicates that the project met all of its objectives. Appendixes provide a list of materials distributed to program participants, notes from observations of meetings, copies of survey forms, and an outline for a professional development collaborative model.   [More]  Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Cooperation, Elementary Secondary Education, Faculty Development

Herbert, Joanne M., Ed.; McNergney, Robert F., Ed. (1996). The Case of Columbus, New Mexico: Educational Life on the Border. Multicultural Videocase Series. This guide accompanies one of a pair of videocases depicting educational life in Columbus, New Mexico. The videocase includes 23 minutes of unstaged but edited videotape footage of teaching and learning in and around an elementary school. The first section of the guide, "Teaching Note" (Linda Warner), contains a transcript of the videotape and questions designed to help instructors engage people in case-based discussions. In the teaching note section, the videotape is divided into five segments: (1) the principal of Columbus School, Dennis Armijo, provides background on the district's practice of educating students from Mexico; (2) Lynda Leyba, a second-grade teacher, introduces a set of vocabulary words written in Spanish and English to her students; (3) Mario Vasquez, the bilingual resource teacher, conducts a lesson on chilies and describes his educational goals for students; (4) Leyba and members of the resource team talk about similarities and differences among cultural groups represented in Columbus School; and (5) the resource team discusses some of the challenges students from Columbus experience when they go to junior high school in Deming, New Mexico. Finally, one resource staff member describes changes in curriculum since she was a student at Columbus; another talks about efforts to involve parents in school activities. The second section, which comprises about three quarters of the guide, presents three critical perspectives on the video written by Ursula Casanova, Deidre Dancer McMann, and Martin Haberman. Each of these essays relates its author's life and professional experiences, the educational events in the video, and the broader concept of multicultural education.   [More]  Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Case Studies, Elementary Education, Higher Education

Kauffman, Dorothy (1994). A Profile of Content-ESL across the United States. A national survey investigated the extent and design of programs in which content instruction is combined with instruction in English as a Second Language (content-ESL). Findings are summarized here. Is was found that about 15 percent of all public schools, and all states, have such programs, with heaviest concentration in the south and southwest United States. Most are offered in early elementary grades, and most serve Spanish-speakers. Almost half use students' native languages in the classroom. Most participating students are from low-income families. Social studies, science, and math are the most common subject areas, but overall, over 100 subject matter types are taught. A large percentage use curricula and materials designed especially for them, teacher-made tests (particularly in secondary schools) and portfolio and progress assessment (especially in elementary schools), and teacher-designed materials. Different patterns of instruction were found at different instruction levels. Characteristic instructional practices were investigated, including school-community partnerships, professional development and collaboration opportunities, degree of integration of ESL students into the school program, appreciation of linguistic/cultural diversity, design of instructional sequence, and type of classroom strategies used. A brief bibliography is included.   [More]  Descriptors: Bilingual Education Programs, Classroom Techniques, Curriculum Design, Elementary Secondary Education

Schmitt, Dorren R. (1994). Longitudinal Study of a Bilingual Program for Four Year Olds. This paper reports on a longitudinal study of the Project Preschool PLUS bilingual program conducted by two elementary schools in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. The program serves limited English proficient (LEP) students, the majority of whom qualify for free or reduced price lunches. It emphasizes whole group, small group, and individualized instruction, as well as field trips. Standard diagnostic tests were administered to students at the beginning and end of the school year during the preschool program, while the California Achievement Test (CAT) was administered to kindergartners and first-graders who had completed the program. The study found that Project PLUS was able to make noteworthy impacts on the preschoolers who finished the program. Seventy-one percent of these students were developmentally at or above their chronological age by the end of the school year. On all subscales of the CAT, the former PLUS students scored significantly higher than a control group of similar LEP students.   [More]  Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Bilingual Education Programs, Diagnostic Tests, Limited English Speaking

Hamann, Edmund T. (1994). Ten Complementary Principles To Retain LEP Adults in a Bilingual Family Literacy Program. An educator in a bilingual family literacy program offers 10 suggestions for enhancing the retention of limited-English-proficient (LEP) adult students, accompanied by anecdotes of personal classroom experiences. Guidelines include: (1) being responsive to student expectations about teaching method and acknowledging cultural differences; (2) acknowledging that student goals may differ from stated program goals; (3) promoting a sense of community and friendship among students and volunteers; (4) reminding each student that he brings his own set of skills and is competing only against himself; (5) helping students reduce frustration; (6) creating alternative arenas for student success, even in areas unrelated to studies; (7) mixing teaching methods and classroom formats, offering explicit reasons; (8) allowing students a chance to get to know their instructor and feel comfortable in the class environment; (9) emphasizing, gently, the variety of reasons for literacy learning; and (10) caring and letting it show. (MSE)   [More]  Descriptors: Academic Persistence, Adult Basic Education, Adult Literacy, Adult Students

Saginaw Public Schools, MI. Dept. of Evaluation Services. (1994). State Bilingual and ECIA Chapter 1 Migrant Product Evaluation Report, 1993-94. In 1993-94, Saginaw (Michigan) City School District bilingual and migrant programs operated as one program at 24 elementary schools, 4 middle schools, and both high schools. Enrollments were 633 students, primarily Hispanics, in the bilingual program and 584 students in the migrant program, with considerable overlap between enrollments. Each student received approximately 30 minutes of supplemental instruction per week on a pull-out basis. All students received supplemental reading instruction, while secondary students in the bilingual program also received instruction in basic skills, counseling, and support services. Students were assessed in reading and mathematics using the California Achievement Test. The locally adopted performance standard was improvement in grade-level posttest mean normal curve equivalent (NCE) scores compared to pretest scores. Overall, results were disappointing for both programs. The bilingual program attained the standard in reading for both basic and advanced skills at grades 3 and 5; in basic mathematics skills only at grade 2; and in advanced mathematics skills at grades 2, 4, and 8. The migrant program attained the standard in basic reading skills at grade 3, in advanced reading skills at grades 3 and 10, in basic mathematics skills at grade 2, and in advanced mathematics skills at grades 2 and 10. Recommendations for program improvement include reducing program variations among buildings, offering inservice training for regular educators, centralizing instructional sites, and improving testing strategies. Extensive tables detail pretest-posttest NCE changes by grade level. Appendices also list program enrollments by building and describe identification and eligibility procedures.   [More]  Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Achievement Gains, Bilingual Education Programs, Elementary Secondary Education

Schwartz, Wendy (1995). How To Promote the Science and Mathematics Achievement of Females and Minorities. For Parents/about Parents. Some minority and female students traditionally have not been given the help they need to enroll and succeed in mathematics and science classes. Now, however, a variety of approaches are available to give these students the extra attention they need. Parents can help children develop an interest in science and mathematics by: (1) identifying role models; (2) stressing the importance of high academic goals and insisting that students not put limits on themselves; (3) encouraging students to interact with teachers and participate actively in class; (4) demonstrating the usefulness of science and mathematics in daily living; (5) urging children to enroll in extracurricular science and mathematics programs; (6) helping children locate question-answering services for homework help; (7) finding tutors and programs to meet the child's needs; and (8) participating in science and mathematics learning activities. Parents should work with the school to make sure children learn advanced science, technology, and mathematics. Schools should be urged to provide this instruction in the children's native language to keep them from losing time as they learn English.   [More]  Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Bilingual Education, Course Selection (Students), Elementary Secondary Education

de Jong, Ester J. (1995). From Marginalization to Integrated Language Minority Education. It is argued that language minority education has generally been perceived as a separate program or model, and as a result has often become marginalized within its larger school setting, which negatively influences students, teachers, and the program. An alternative approach to program design, intended to avoid this marginalization by making language minority education an integral part of the entire school, is proposed. The key elements of such a program are described, including shared responsibility among staff members for all students, a coordinate curriculum with teacher collaboration, and student integration based on the principle of equal status. It is suggested that while this approach requires adjustment on the part of minority students and regular teachers as well as language minority students and specialist teachers, integration can be achieved in only such a setting. The challenges teachers must meet include organizing the classroom for integration rather than "submersion," with organization of tasks that assumes equal capability on the part of language-minority and language-majority students. Contains 40 references.   [More]  Descriptors: Articulation (Education), Bilingual Education, Bilingual Students, Educational Strategies

Cuevas, Jorge A.; Fontana, Rose Marie Garcia (1996). A View from the Bottom Up: School-Based Systemic Reform in California. Volume III: Restructuring Ideas for Schools with Limited-English Proficient Students. This volume was intended to stimulate new thinking about how to restructure a school program to effectively educate students whose native language is not English. It favors calling such students "English Language Learners" (ELLs). The document provides specific examples of how some California schools have improved their educational programs for their ELL students. Part 1 includes descriptions of seven strategies that schools with ELL student populations have used in restructuring their educational communities. They include: (1) creating a school-within-a-school; (2) grouping students by language needs; (3) rewriting/integrating the curriculum; (4) teaching students about their community; (5) re-arranging how time is used; (6) teaching in ad hoc teams; and (7) fortifying grade-level teacher teams. Part 2 offers short descriptions of the efforts of three schools with diverse language populations engaged in restructuring strategies, which serve as a starting place for discussing change strategies, tensions in implementation, and varying school and community contexts. The third part briefly describes other restructuring options that involve the restructuring of student experiences; leadership, management, and governance; and the professional lives of teachers. A list of publications and organizations that can offer restructuring assistance is included.   [More]  Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Change Strategies, Elementary Secondary Education, English (Second Language)

Suleiman, Mahmoud F. (1996). Achieving Congruence between Learning and Teaching Styles in Linguistically Diverse Environments. While several studies focus on how students learn, very few focus on how teachers teach. It has been assumed that successful learning is judged by effective teaching. To carry out learning tasks successfully, it is important for students to have multiple learning opportunities and "style-shift" while learning. On the other hand, teachers should achieve a balance between teaching strategies and the students' unique learning styles. Thus, teachers are encouraged to adjust their teaching strategies in light of the different learning styles of the students. This is especially true in today's increasingly diverse classrooms where multiple ways of knowing, learning, and interacting have to be valued and celebrated. The purpose of this paper is to: (1) identify different learning styles of culturally and linguistically diverse students and show how they can be met in language arts instruction; (2) identify strategies for teachers to provide all students with optimal learning opportunities by valuing the learners' preferred ways of learning; and (3) provide pedagogical implications for bilingual and multicultural teachers to achieve congruence between teaching and learning styles in language arts lessons. (Contains 1 figure and 23 references.)   [More]  Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Cognitive Style, Cultural Awareness, Cultural Differences

Herbert, Joanne M., Ed.; McNergney, Robert F., Ed. (1996). The Case of Deming, New Mexico: International Public Education. Multicultural Videocase Series. This guide accompanies one of a pair of videocases depicting educational life in Deming, New Mexico. The videocase includes 28 minutes of unstaged but edited videotape footage of teaching and learning in and around junior high and mid-high schools in Deming. The first section of the guide, "Teaching Note" (Todd Kent) contains a transcript of the videotape and questions designed to help instructors engage people in case-based discussions. In the teaching note section the videotape is divided into five segments: (1) Hank Dominguez, director of personnel for the Deming Schools, provides background on the district's practice of educating students from Mexico; (2) Paulette Quarrell, a teacher of junior-high school English, teaches a class on descriptive writing and reflects on her life as a teacher; (3) Ray Trejo conducts a bilingual class at the mid-high school for students from Palomas, Mexico, and describes his reasons for teaching; (4) students who live in Palomas, Mexico, and attend Trejo's class share some thoughts about going to school in Deming; and (5) Dominguez reflects on the complexity of the issue of educating students from Mexico in the Deming Schools–the public's attitudes, bureaucratic wrangles, and reasons for persisting despite the opposition. The second section, which comprises about three quarters of the guide, presents three critical perspectives on the video written by Mary E. Dilworth, Lisa Sparaco, and Roberta Maldonado. Each of these essays presents its author's own perspective in terms of her own experience, both personal and professional. Each essay addresses the issues, questions of professional knowledge, and suggested actions and possible consequences.   [More]  Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Case Studies, Higher Education, Instructional Improvement

Gonzalez, Rosa Maria (1994). Title VII Newcomers Program. Final Report 1993-94. Publication Number 93.19. In 1990-91, the Austin Independent School District (Texas) received a 3-year grant under Title VII to serve a population of limited-English-proficient high school students called "newcomers" (i.e., recent arrivals to the United States). In addition to their limited English proficiency, these students, who have typically suffered interrupted educations, have a wide range of literacy skills. The program provides a sheltered environment for its students, with small classes and intensive English instruction in addition to other academic subjects. Students are expected to move to the regular high school curriculum after a year with continued support in English. In 1993-94, 120 students were served by the Title VII Newcomers Program. In spite of the difficulties they had encountered, newcomers typically demonstrated a commitment to attending school and moving forward with their educations and considered the program very helpful. They demonstrated an average gain of 11 raw score points on a language assessment battery. Recommendations for the 1994-95 school year, the final year of federal support, include a call for additional student support at the end of the Newcomers' Program. A program evaluation checklist is attached. (Contains 1 chart, 32 figures, and 4 references.)   [More]  Descriptors: Adjustment (to Environment), Bilingual Education, Class Size, Compensatory Education