This study investigated the effects of advance organizers on the English reading comprehension of six bilingual fifth and sixth grade learning disabled students whose primary language was Spanish. An alternating treatment design was implemented. Following each treatment, the students read an expository text written in English and answered eight…

Defines three previously overlooked subpopulations of English proficient students (English superior, equally limited, non-English superior) in terms of their relative proficiency in English and the home language. Presents data and clarifies assessment terms, criteria, and procedures used in relative proficiency assessment. Makes program…

Recent developments have occurred which English teachers need to know about to make an accurate assessment of their role in combating the still growing form of nativism created by the English Only movement. First, a breakthrough in national politics has provided a tolerance and an appreciation of multilingualism in the United States. In the…

Several English and Spanish language tests currently used in bilingual education and some less known tests are reviewed, looking at both historic and psychometric factors. It is suggested that practitioners have commonly assumed that all language tests are basically valid, which contributed to the commercial success of some tests of questionable…

Sixty bilingual Mexican American children (20 language disorderd, 20 not qualifying for placement, 20 comparison) between the ages of 7-10 from 2 school districts in southern New Mexico participated in the study to develop and validate an assessment procedure to determine language disorders in Spanish/English bilingual children. An ex post facto…

The descriptions of 200 tests for a variety of language groups are designed for use with the test file maintained by the Evaluation, Dissemination, and Assessment Center for Bilingual Education (EDAC). The content areas covered include reading, mathematics, self-concept, language dominance, language proficiency, and intelligence. Tests are…

Teachers of nonstandard dialect-speaking students need to become ethnographers of local communication. For minority education and bidialectal programs to work, there must be an informed awareness of community language functions and of the structural equality of all world dialects. (41 references) (CJH)

The use of language is imperative to the intellectual development of children. Yet language minority children in all-English learning environments are forced to cope with shallow levels of learning while their future learning abilities are severely impaired. Bilingual education with native-language instruction is still the best option for children…

A guide for Franco-Ontarian educators concerned with the provision of French-language programs for English-dominant students discusses issues in program planning and development. An introductory section outlines the theoretic bases and background for the discussion. Subsequent sections focus on defining the program needs and issues (questions to…

A study analyzed the effects of classwide peer tutoring on science vocabulary spelling achievement for three language groups in one school's sixth grade. The groups consisted of: (1) Spanish-dominant and limited-English-proficient (LEP) students (n=8); (2) students proficient at grade level in both Spanish and English (n=14); and (3) monolingual…

This monograph presents language factors related to bilingualism, to assist educators to distinguish normal phenomena due to bilingualism from symptoms of a handicapping condition. The first section, called "The Nature of Bilingualism," discusses the diversity of bilingual students and their dynamic use of two languages, focusing on simultaneous…

The guide outlines Washington State's programmatic approach to teaching native Spanish-speaking limited-English-proficient students in bilingual education programs. It charts the components of the bilingual instructional models used in the classrooms, and then explains or defines each component. The components include: methods for determining the…

This article examines issues in language assessment in children exposed to two languages, including arrested language development in preschool children, arrested development and language loss in school-age children, effects of educational policy (especially the devaluation of non-English languages) on bilingualism, problems in primary language…

A discussion of bilingualism and second language learning distinguishes three types of bilingualism, namely, compound, coordinate, and sub-coordinate. A compound bilingual is an individual who learns two languages in the same environment so that he/she acquires one notion with two verbal expressions. A coordinate bilingual acquires the two…

Purpose of the handbook is to ensure a commonality of concept and practice in bilingual education for the San Ysidro School District (California). Prefaced by excerpts from the state legislation enacting bilingual education and a statement of the district's bilingual-bicultural education philosophy, the handbook delineates the membership,…