Effective instruction for language-minority students: An early childhood case study (original) (raw)
Non-Language Characteristics of Instructional Services for Language-Minority Students
2000
The National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education (NCBE) is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs (OBEMLA) and is operated under Contract No. T295005001 by The George Washington University, Institute for Education Policy Studies/Center for the Study of Language and Education. The contents of this publication are reprinted from the NCBE Resource Collection. Materials from the Resource Collection are reprinted "as is." NCBE assumes no editorial or stylistic responsibility for these documents. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of The George Washington University or the U.S. Department of Education. The mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations does not imply endorsement by the U.S. government. Readers are free to duplicate and use these materials in keeping with accepted publication standards. NCBE requests that proper credit be given in the event of reproduction.
Language Minority Students in American Schools: An Education in English
TESOL Quarterly, 2006
In this book Adamson tackles the theoretical, pedagogical, and practical issues that arise in effectively educating the nearly 3.5 million English language learners (ELLs) in the United States. In a readily accessible and direct style, Adamson draws from equal parts of the educational and linguistic research, as well as from his own experiences as a teacher of English in the United States and in other countries. Though he indicates he intended to write the book primarily for students preparing to become teachers of English as a second language (ESL), his broad approach to bilingual education as a whole and his inclusion of a wide range of applicable topics, including language acquisition theory, instructional strategies, educational policy, and scholarship, make his text a worthy read for educators, researchers, linguists, and policy makers. In chapter 1, Adamson describes his own background and recounts his experiences teaching ELLs in the United States and teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) outside the United States, drawing distinctions between the two teaching tasks. He concludes this chapter with a summary of the lessons he learned based on his early teaching experiences. He makes useful and straightforward recommendations for schools on creating meaningful and relevant curricula
1998
La premiere partie de ce texte retrace le cadre historique du developpement de l'education bilingue aux USA. Avant la premiere guerre mondiale, le pays a connu une ouverture a la diversite linguistique avec l'utilisation de plusieurs langues dans l'instruction publique. Le debut des annees 60 a ete marque par l'instauration d'une legislation permettant l'utilisation de fonds publics pour l'education bilingue. Dans la deuxieme partie, les As. decrivent les principales justifications theoriques utilisees pour appuyer l'education bilingue. La troisieme partie resume l'evolution de la recherche sur l'education bilingue aux USA. Les chercheurs ont progressivement abandonne l'hypothese des effets negatifs du bilinguisme pour travailler sur les avantages du bilinguisme sur le plan individuel et social. La quatrieme partie du texte est consacree a une tentative de classification des programmes bilingues pratiques aux USA. Les As. ont identifie deu...
Improving Bilingual Education Programs through Evaluation
1992
This paper identifies how evaluation and research can contribute to federal policies for language-minority students who have limited proficiency in English. Federal bilingual education policies are controversial, and the debate benefits from systematically collected information about, and impartial evaluation of, bilingual programs. Specific focus of the paper is on the issues of evaluation and assessment in language-minority education within the context of education and its influence on the nation's future. The discussion is divided into three parts. The first part examines what has been learned from the evaluations of bilingual education conducted by the Federal Government during the 1980s. The second part assesses the implications of national standards and examinations for language-minorities. The final part considers how the evaluation findings and the national standard movement can suggest principles for design of future federal policies. (VWL)
The Efficacy of Bilingual Education Programs for English Language Learners
New York University Senior Honors Thesis, 2019
The present thesis aims to evaluate the efficacy of bilingual education programs for English Language Learners (ELLs) in District 3 of New York City. It begins with a historical account of the previous (and controversial) research and policies that led to the development of contemporary bilingual education programs. It continues with a debriefing of the current state of affairs surrounding bilingual education, including types of programs, demographics, and funding. This background provides context for the statistical analysis, which investigates whether English proficiency level and/or grade level can predict performance on the New York State English Language Arts (ELA) exam — a substantial measure of literacy and language skills. The results found that English proficiency level was a significant predictor of ELA exam performance in both the highest and lowest clusters of scores. Further, native-English speaking students were increasingly more likely to score in higher performance levels than ELL students; higher performance levels (reflecting higher scores) saw a larger achievement gap, as ELL students were less likely to score in those levels than their English-proficient peers. The findings contradict established psychological research that demonstrate bilingual education as beneficial to bilingual children’s cognitive development, suggesting that these programs aren’t operating efficiently and effectively. The implications are further supported by qualitative data collected through interviews with District 3 teachers and parents. Suggested future steps are discussed.
Teaching the Teacher Within. Long Term Success for Bilingual & Monolingual Students
1993
A discussion of the education of bilingual children, in both mainstream instructional programs and bilingual or transitional programs, focuses on the manner in which the powerful teacher-student relationship affects student learning processes and the student's language capacity allows him to express his learning. In the first two chapters, the author shares her own teaching experiences, analyzing the reasons for failures and looking at research on language and learning, program models for bilingual students, and common assumptions and practices that delay and sometimes prevent succes for bilingual students. The next chapter outlines some personal discoveries about teaching and learning, redefines knowledge, and offers guidance for empowering bilingual students to excel in the sometimes challenging context of American schools. Chapter four summarizes implications of these thoughts, including some suggested instructional components to enable long-term student success. Chapter five discusses ongoing assessment that informs instruction, and chapter six describes a videotaped lesson with a culturally diverse group of students, giving specific examples of instruction that lead to independent learners. The final chapter explains the importance of daily evaluation of long-term goals to ensure that bilingual students receive the education that all students are promised in American schools. (Author/MSE)
1990
This guide is intended as a resource for mainstream classroom teachers, K-12, who want to provide language minority students with additional support in their transition into classes where English is the language of instruction. The guide may also be used to help teachers make instruction more effective for all students and for teacher training. Areas addressed include the following: (1) assessing students in content-specific language proficiency (a table of predominant language functions required in selected content areas and a sample assessment Instrument for content-specific language functions are provided; (2) setting up a buddy system with Ehglish-proficient peers; (3) preparing the student for a content-area lesson by teaching core vocabulary in advance and contextualizing lessons; (4) making language more comprehensible; (5) using cooperative grouping; and (6) collaborating with the English-as-a-Second-Language teacher. It is recommended that language minority students be regarded as resources in the mainstream classroom rather than as different or inferior. This provides a greater likelihood of their becoming proficient in English and succeeding in mainstream classes, while enriching the education of all students. (MSE)
Improving Schooling for Language-Minority Children: A Research Agenda
TESOL Quarterly, 1998
The report is discussed here, in a format corresponding to the report's sections on domains of research and practice: bilingualism and second-language learning; cognitive aspects of school learning: literacy development and content learning; the social context of school learning; student assessment; program evaluation; studies of school and classroom effectiveness; preparation and development of teachers; estimating population parameters; issues related to the research infrastructure; and priorities for research. The report concludes that while research has revealed a significant amount about how a second language is learned, it has shed little light on whether language minority children are doing so or how to help them succeed academically. The critique finds that the report overemphasizes how research has not been fruitful, and suggests that the interests of language-minority children would be better served by theory-based experimentation on effective schooling of poor children in general, not relying as heavily on second language acquisition research or remaining preoccupied with language of instruction. (MSE)
The Many Voices of Education for Bilingual Students in Massachusetts
1990
Massachusetts passed the first state legislation mandating bilingual education in 1971, the Transitional Bilingual Education Bill (TBE). This publication contains five case studies that demonstrate how teachers and schools have responded to the needs of their minority group students. The first case study, "Bilingual Education in a Bilingual Community," describes a Spanish/English program that incorporates the parents' goal a a bilingual program in the context of quality educatim. The second study, "One Full Curriculum Shared by Two Languages," describes a 3oint effort by an English-speaking teacher and a Cambodian teacher to provide a well-roundf.d program for Cambcdian students, despite a lack of materials and Cambodian-speaking personnel. Study 3, "Schooling a Transient Population of Japanese," describes an effective bilingual program for small numbers of students at each grade level, and study 4, "An Introduction to English Language and Culture Through Technology," describes a high school English-as-a-Second-Language class that uses word processing to teach literacy to Vietnamese students. Finally, the fifth case study, "Good Bilingual Educa'Aon Is Good Education: The Case of a Kindergarten Teacher," describes a kindergarten Cantonese bilingual classroom based on high expectations and research-based teaching strategies. The report concludes by discussing the impact and flexibility of TBE and the observed characteristics of the teachers involved in the program. Typically, these teachers: (1) have a strong sense of commitment ana advocacy; (2) do work that goes beyond teaching; (3) care a great deal about their students; (4) have a good understanding of students' backgrounds; (5) have high .ytlectations; and (5) teach in a way that focuses on learning first, and on learning language second. A 21-item bibliography is appended. (FMW)
2000
This is an evaluation of the first 3 years of Project REALM (Reading English And Learning Mathematics), a project funded by Title VII. This project provides additional support to improve the quality of elementary education for new refugee students. Project REALM has 5 major objectives, including the following: (1) to increase participants' English proficiency; (2) to increase participants' reading ability; (3) to increase participants' mathematic computational skills; (4) to provide professional development for teachers and support staff; and (5) to enhance family participation in school activities and community events. Evaluation involved examining teacher focus group interviews, county professional development proposals and professional development flyers, and student test scores. Overall, Project REALM served 146 limited English proficient students in preschool through grade 4 who spoke 12 languages or dialects, including Bosnians, Cubans, Iraqis, and Somalis. Project REALM was effective in increasing students' English achievement scores, providing extensive professional development to both program staff and related teachers, and encouraging parental involvement in their students' education. (Contains 15 references and 8 tables.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Language Minority Students 1
Bilingual/ESL Programs Evaluation 1994-95. Publication No. 94.05
1995
In compliance with state law, the Austin Independent School District (AISD) (Texas) provides programs to help students identified as limited English proficient (LEP). These are Bilingual Education (BE) courses which provide dual-language instruction in major content areas, and English as a Second Language (ESL), which provides intensive English instruction. In 1993-94, AISD enrolled 9,139 LEP students, of whom 917. were Spanish speakers, 47. were Vietnamese, and 57. represented 52 other language groups. Most LEF students (7,213) were served through LEP or BE programs, although the parents of !,339 LEP students refused services for their children. The numbers of AISD's LEP students have been increasing for the last 7 years. Their achievement as measured by standardized tests, including a Spanish-language instrument, is generally below that of state and national comparison groups. Exited LEP students dropped out less frequently; were retained less often; made higher grade point averages (GPAs); and were involved in fewer disciplinary incidents than students districtwide. A 4-year comparison of LEP students and those whose parents refused services indicated better attendance, GPAs, and lower retention and discipline rates for served students. Recommendations are made for program improvement. (Contains 41 figures, 11 attachments in tabular form, and 13 references.) (SLD)
Training Bilingual Educators at a PBI
Multicultural Learning and Teaching, 2018
While Bilingual Education has traditionally been associated with linguistic diversity, the rise of the number of African-American teacher candidates in a Bilingual Education program at a mid-west Predominantly Black Institution (PBI) is causing the authors to reevaluate the input of this program’s curriculum and the output of the candidates’ understanding. The focus of this article is the training and preparation of bilingual educators at a PBI. The first section focuses on theoretical aspects of bilingual programming, and helps the reader understand how demographics and legislation have a strong impact on the educators who obtain licensure to work in the field of Bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESL) Education. The second section focuses on (1) results obtained in a review of national and state demographics, (2) results from a survey highlighting the experiences of teacher candidates in a Bilingual Education program at a PBI in the mid-west, and (3) results from interviews with teacher candidates regarding the experiences of these same candidates. Results are used to draw conclusions about program strengths and weaknesses to improve and broaden the understanding of the instructional methods needed in this Bilingual Education program curriculum.
Quality Bilingual Education: Defining Success. LAB Working Paper No. 1
1999
This paper proposes a comprehensive framework for defining success in bilingual education. Defining success is a difficult and elusive task. Indicators of success are at the center of much controversy, and a review of the research of the last 30 years reveals varying trends in the underlying notion of success. Most studies focus on the ability of bilingual education programs to enhance students' performance in English academic areas, especially language and mathematics. By the late 1980s bilingual education researchers shifted their focus to identify characteristics of effective bilingual programs, as a part of the effective schools movement. This paper shows how research over the years has focused on certain components of the framework and how some recent trends are consistent with this broader definition. Definitions of success are discussed and followed by an overview of the current bilingual education debate-including the English-only movement, two-way immersion models, and traditional English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) models. Studies of "Effective Bilingual Education" are discussed as well as studies that seek to put positive outcomes in context. It is concluded that there are two types of research-one type that that aims at judging the effectiveness of bilingual education centers by focusing on the language of instruction and models; the other type looks at specific instructional practices in detail. Good practices are likely to promote learning, but they do not guarantee student performance. Four tables and 53 references are included. (KFT) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.