Abelardo Villarreal | The University of Texas at Austin (original) (raw)

Papers by Abelardo Villarreal

Presentaciones escolares. Serie de programas para conmemOrar acontecimientos de valor culture par... more Presentaciones escolares. Serie de programas para conmemOrar acontecimientos de valor culture para el mexico americano (School Assembly Presentations. Series of Programs to Commemorate Events of Cultural Value to the Mexican erican).

This workbook for children in the prirary grades contains three sections of rhymes and activities... more This workbook for children in the prirary grades contains three sections of rhymes and activities about family members; the community's houses; shops and streets; and the schoolroom and its equipment. An individual activity accumpanies each rhyme. The workbook is designed to strengthen the child's knowledge of his environment and his language by emphasizing and basing the lesson on ideas that interest him and activities corresponding to his aptitudes. The book is fully illustrated, and learning activities include questions and answers, follow-the-dots, solving picture puzzles, coloring and drawing. The material has been classroom-tested aid revised accordingly. (CK) , *

The United States is now experiencing a new wave of immigrants, which is expected to increase as ... more The United States is now experiencing a new wave of immigrants, which is expected to increase as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Schools, particularly those in five states, are facing great challenges in their efforts to meet the educational needs of immigrant students, most of whom speak different languages and are poor. When school systems are unprepared for this influx, teachers and administrators feel overwhelmed and become defeatist. In order to provide the best instruction for all students, school personnel must have adequate knowledge and resources and must be able to rid themselves of negative stereotypes and expectations. Successful immigrant student programs emphasize student orientation to school and society, bilingual instruction, specialized instructional techniques, low student/teacher ratio, a wide range of support services, comprehensive staff development, multicultural education, and supportive environments. This article presents a framework for equity and excellence outlining aspects of school effectiveness correlates: (1) instructional leadership; (2) instructional focus; (3) safe and orderly school climate: (4) high student expectations; (5) monitoring and measuring progress; and (6) parent and community support. (SV)

Bilingual Research Journal, 1999

... 2. Culture: Minority children bring a culture that schools sometimes fail to acknowledge andi... more ... 2. Culture: Minority children bring a culture that schools sometimes fail to acknowledge andintegrate into the curriculum. ... In fact, curriculum content (grade level skills, concepts, and knowledge) should be basically the same for English language learners and ... Fnglish language ...

This article provides school council members in Texas public schools engaged in site-based decisi... more This article provides school council members in Texas public schools engaged in site-based decision-making (SBDM) with information about creating successful preschool programs for language minority children (LMC). It is intended to help the counci.ls make decisions as to how they can: (1) ensure that language minority children have access equal to that of language majority children to a high quality preschool program, (2) create a vision of a high quality preschool program for LMC, and (3) determine the critical steps needed for making that vision a reality. Components necessary for an effective preschool program for language minority students are listed, and criteria for program development and improvement are presented, addressing: (1) policy; (2) administrative structure; (3) program goals; (4) assessment procedures; (5) curriculum; (6) learning facilitation formats; (7) cultural component; (8) language development; (9) site arrangement; (10) instructional ratios; (11) staffing, staff qualifications, and credentials; (12) family involvement; (13) staff development and (14) program evaluation. "An Early Childhood Education Programs Needs Assessment Form" is appended. (MDM)

This Spanish-language supplementary language arts program focuses on the development of decoding,... more This Spanish-language supplementary language arts program focuses on the development of decoding, encoding, comprehension, and interpretation skills, and is oriented toward the Mexican-American child's experience. It is designed for first-grade bilingual programs and as a resource for instruction in Spanish as a second language up to the third grade. The program consists of: a teacher's manual; an exercise workbook for the student; 65 flashcards color-coded to match the workbook; and 12 readers which can be used separately or as part of the program. The vocabulary is sequenced to parallel the reading lessons, building from a line or two of text on a page in the first to about eight lines per page in the last of th,e series. (Author/AM) * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not * responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions * TABLA DL CONTIN1DOS

Creating schools that work for all children. Vision: IDRA is a vanguard leadership development an... more Creating schools that work for all children. Vision: IDRA is a vanguard leadership development and research team working with people to create self-renewing schools that value and empower all children, families and communities. Functions: POLICY AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT-IDRA policy and leadership development promotes accountability and responsibility. Using inclusive, cutting-edge and broad-based strategies, we develop leadership within communities, schools and policy-making bodies to create collaborative and enlightened educational policies that work for all children. RESEARCH AND EVALUATION-IDRA research and evaluation advance educational policies, programs and practices. Using collaborative and innovative methods, we investigate important questions and provide insights into compelling educational issues. As a national resource, we set standards in the design, analysis, and synthesis of timely and useful research involving diverse populations. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT-IDRA professional development causes people across the country to take action that empowers others. We assist people to create educational solutions through innovative, participatory, and hands-on presentations, workshops, and technical assistance that promotes sustained growth and development. Our assistance values the needs and cultures of our participants and acknowledges their experiences. We carefully craft training designs that include reflection and application. IDRA professional development causes participants to take a new look at persistent problems and equips them to take action that produces positive outcomes for all children. PROGRAMS AND MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT-IDRA programs and materials cause people across the country to improve education for all children. Our programs produce results. Our materials are useful and timely; attractive, cost-effective and intuitive; linguistically, culturally and developmentally appropriate. IDRA pro-actively disseminates cutting-edge information to educators, administrators, decision-and policy-makers, parents and community leaders.

High School Outcome Standard: Ninety-five percent or more (longitudinal rate) of all students, in... more High School Outcome Standard: Ninety-five percent or more (longitudinal rate) of all students, including LEP students, graduate with a high school diploma. Graduation or completion standards are met, and extensive efforts upholding and exceeding those standards exist. Graduation or completion standards are met, and minimal efforts upholding and exceeding those standards exist. oR 2002. Intercultural bevelaoment Research Association School Outcomes Elementary School Outcome Standard: Ninety-eight percent or more of all students complete the elementary school curriculum. Graduation or completion standards are not met, but extensive. efforts for meeting those standards exist.

As keepers of the vision of multiculturalism and democracy, our public schools hold the responsib... more As keepers of the vision of multiculturalism and democracy, our public schools hold the responsibility of ensuring quality teaching for all students. Public schools are accountable for educating all learners to high academic standards and outcomes regardless of differing characteristics of these learners. This includes immigrant students, who are entitled to full access to excellence and equity in educational opportunities at all levels. To accomplish this, schools must be responsive to immigrant students’ unique social, cognitive and linguistic needs and must plan to address them accordingly. They also must strengthen their capacity to implement creative approaches for serving immigrant students. I D R A’s S o u t h C e n t r a l Collaborat ive for Equity has outlined five goals of educational equity. These are comparably high academic achievement and other student outcomes, equitable access and inclusion; equitable treatment, equitable opportunity to learn, and equitable resources...

Research supports the importance of ethnic minor-ity teachers as role models for diverse populati... more Research supports the importance of ethnic minor-ity teachers as role models for diverse populations (Zirkel, 2002). Quiocho and Rios (2000) poignantly argue that minority teachers bring a unique critical perspective to schooling because of their personal experiences. Equitable ethnic representation and distribution among school faculty appear to posi-tively impact student achievement (Meier, Wrinkle, & Polinard, 1999). Regrettably for first generation/ethnic minority students, college graduation and teacher certifica-tion completion rates are dismal (Haselkorn & Fideler, 1996). Several reasons exist: college enrollment rates, increased tuition costs, academic preparation and attrition, and wider career options. Equally wor-risome is that teacher shortages exist in areas critical to minority students ’ success, specifically in bilin-gual education, special education, mathematics edu-

Teacher Education Quarterly, 2015

One of the biggest challenges in teacher preparation programs is fostering teachers' abilitie... more One of the biggest challenges in teacher preparation programs is fostering teachers' abilities to build relationships with students while simultaneously cultivating students' academic potential. This is specifically vital in the case of English learners (ELs). Many secondary teachers feel unprepared to work with and lack preparation to differentiate instruction for ELs (Durguno lu & Hughes, 2010; Flores, Clark, Claeys, & Villarreal, 2007; Reeves, 2006; Tellez & Waxman, 2006; Yoon, 2008). Moreover, teachers' underpreparedness affects their attitudes and beliefs about ELs (Durguno lu & Hughes, 2010; Yoon, 2008) and unfortunately hampers ELs' performance (Coady, Harper, & de Jong, 2011; Tellez & Waxman, 2006; Turkan, De Oliveira, Lee, & Phelps, 2014; Yoon, 2008). Furthermore, teacher education has failed to prepare secondary mathematics and science teachers for working with ELs (Turkan et al., 2014). It is our contention that teacher preparation for working with ELs req...

Bilingual Research Journal, 1999

Teacher Education Quarterly, 2015