The phenomenon of "invented spelling" in young children, observed in many preschool age children who produce written messages using words that are generated through an original system of orthography, was researched with Spanish-speaking children. The following conclusions were made from previous research with English-speaking children concerning…

A multi-year effort is being made to create a revised Spanish-language version of the Tests of General Educational Development (GED). It is necessary to ensure that the translated, adapted version maintains the same content and performance standards as the original English version. The final linking of the Spanish-language and English versions…

Two major evaluations of bilingual education differed significantly in evaluation design and results. The American Institute for Research (AIR) conducted the national impact study for bilingual education and gathered data from many programs. AIR based its study on comparisons of mathematics and language arts achievement of students in bilingual…

This paper highlights three major aspects of recent trends in immigration and their impact on schools: high sustained flows, growing geographic dispersal, and an increase in undocumented immigration. It focuses on such topics as who comes to the United States (legal, humanitarian, and undocumented immigrants); demographic context (income level and…

This document presents data on the relative influence of (1) maternal education, (2) race (or ethnicity) and (3) poverty on elementary students' academic achievement. Study results indicate that maternal education has the greatest effect on achievement. The data base is reported as representative of all U.S. children enrolled in public schools,…

Noting the importance of kindergarten for establishing skills critical for school success, especially for today's diverse kindergartners who differ in the extent and types of early care and educational experiences they have had prior to kindergarten, this study focused on the gains in reading skills made by language minority and mainstream…

This study was conducted to evaluate the tests developed by elementary foreign language teachers of French, Japanese, and Spanish in a school district in South Carolina. The tests were designed to determine the level of end-of-year student learning and to provide a basis for evaluating the curriculum of each of the three languages. The French and…