Adult education's mission is a critical one. It seeks to provide the large and diverse population of adults who lack basic skills, a high school credential, or English language skills with the competencies they need to be productive workers, family members, and citizens. Federally funded adult education serves learners in three types of programs:…

Title II of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 directs the federal government to conduct a national assessment of adult education, including activities to understand the extent to which adult education strategies positively affect learners. A systematic review of the research on the effectiveness of particular strategies in adult…

This report reviews government-funded, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) projects for adults at three schools: in Arlington (Virginia) public schools, in an El Paso (Texas) community college, and in the Massachusetts Department of Education. The Arlington Adult Learning System (AALS) demonstrated how coordination by a community-based…

This report describes a multi-year transitional program designed to move limited-English-speakers in the elementary grades into mainstream classroom instruction, focusing on the study of literature as a central strategy. The program is designed to challenge students academically, be comprehensive, provide continuity, and build explicit connections…

The report looks at programs and approaches for educating students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. It is intended as a guide for school and district decision-makers to help them identify instructional approaches and programs appropriate to their students' needs. Four program alternatives are discussed: newcomer programs;…

The English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) curriculum of the Arlington (Virginia) Adult Learning System (AALS) is presented. AALS is a consortium in which an adult education provider (the public school system) coordinates efforts of its own organization with a community-based organization, a vocational institute, and a university to transition…

This paper discusses and advocates the application of structured immersion, or transfer instruction, to the elementary school curriculum in English as a second language (ESL). It is proposed that transfer instruction, bridging bilingual or ESL programs and the mainstream all-English curriculum, helps children transfer the concepts and skills they…

Adapted from a curriculum guide prepared by the Hartford, Connecticut Bilingual Program's Vocabulary Development Committee, this guide to vocabulary development in sheltered English offers practical ideas for content area instruction to limited-English-speaking students in the language classroom, with the objective of facilitating transition from…

This handbook is designed to help teachers of French Canadian immersion students plan effective language learning experiences for their students in the transition year to English instruction. In the transition year, French immersion students are first introduced to formal instruction in English. This introduction presents a unique challenge for…

The four issues contain articles on the diagnosis and treatment of learning disabilities (LDs). Article titles and authors include: "Learning Disability Specialist Looks at Foreign Language Instruction" (Elissa Fisher); "Physician Questions Reliability of Central Auditory Processing Tests in Diagnosing LD" (Daniel Schwartz); "Educator Urges…

A discussion of elementary and middle school curriculum design to meet the needs of students learning English as a Second Language (ESL) focuses on the ways in which ESL instruction can be incorporated into the curriculum. It begins with a brief review of statistics on the population of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in the schools and…

A Kean College (New Jersey) program in English as a Second Language (ESL) designed to ease students' transition to mainstream classes focuses on reinforcing existing English skills, encouraging interaction between limited-English-speaking and native-speaking students, providing academic support, encouraging confidence, and helping teachers modify…

This collection of articles related to language issues and literacy and bilingual and multicultural education include the following: "Three Processes in the Child's Acquisition of Syntax" (Roger Brown and Ursula Bellugi); "Pre-School Children's Knowledge of English Phonology" (Charles Read); "Stages in Language Development and Reading Exposure"…

The English language and literature transition course is intended for high school students at the intermediate or advanced proficiency level in English as a second language intending to pursue further English language arts and literature courses. It builds on the communication skills introduced earlier in the English-as-a-second-language course…

This handbook is designed to help Alberta (Canada) elementary school administrators facilitate efficient and successful experiences for French immersion students receiving formal English language instruction for the first time. In question-and-answer format, it discusses briefly the following issues: what administrators need to know about students…