Introduction: This article investigates an early STEM family engagement program offered during the pre-kindergarten (pre-k) year. Pre-k is an important juncture for community organizations to support children's STEM engagement and parental involvement in informal STEM learning. We evaluated a program called Teaching Together STEM, which offers a…

This study investigates the ways in which synchronous and asynchronous activities create an online language laboratory that mediates second language (L2) learning for 188 L2 university participants over a 6-week period. Completion of tasks and pre-, post-, and weekly surveys were analyzed. Statistical analyses were run on self-rated questions…

This research brief draws upon data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2014. FACES provides information at the national level about Head Start programs, centers, and classrooms, and about the children and families that Head Start serves. This brief is part of a series of reporting products describing data from the…

This article reports on a comparative study of teacher and student perceptions on effective instructional practices in the Spanish heritage language classroom. The data were collected through an online questionnaire administered to 460 students in different Spanish courses and 9 instructors at a large university as well as focus groups. Based on…

Recent studies reveal early and wide gaps in cognitive and oral language skills--whether gauged in English or Spanish--among Latino children relative to White peers. Yet, other work reports robust child health and social development, even among children of Mexican American immigrants raised in poor households, the so-called "immigrant…

This course is intended to teach the student about Spanish and Latin American culture in order to broaden his capacity for understanding and appreciating those cultures. The subject matter in this course is the folklore, customs, types of food, and music of a culture as seen through holidays, festivals, styles, and special occasions. Learning…

THIS RESEARCH WAS DESIGNED TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORMAL LEARNING CURVES OF STUDENTS TAUGHT SPANISH IN A TELEVISION-CORRESPONDENCE COURSE AND THOSE TAUGHT SPANISH IN THE CONVENTIONAL MANNER. AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP OF OVER 20 STUDENTS IN 5 SMALL HIGH SCHOOLS WAS GIVEN INSTRUCTION IN SPANISH FOR 1 YEAR, ENTIRELY BY…

In this article, the author describes how he created an approach that he terms "Mathematics as a Second Language" (MSL) for teaching ELL students mathematics. The main components of MSL are vocabulary activities, journals, group work, and projects. He used MSL to teach prealgebra to ELL students, as well as to native English speakers, for two…