Taking a position that is unusual these days, New Jersey officials are promoting research that says bilingual education methods have an edge over English-only methods in teaching English-language learners to read. This article talks about the importance of bilingual education or a blended approach in the implementation of Reading First Program in…

Evaluates six major Spanish basal reading programs published since 1980 for Hispanic-American students. Concludes that these translated materials reflect a mechanistic part-to-whole view of reading and ignore current theories of reading as a meaning-seeking process. Contains 39 references and 23 sources of Spanish language materials. (SV)

A Los Angeles bilingual elementary school was evaluated for the effectiveness of its dual reading program for bilingual first graders, the effectiveness of the native language literacy approach for Spanish dominants, and evidence of bias in the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS). One hundred thirty-one Spanish and English dominant children…