This Advice provides important information on the national context and describes best practice to support senior leaders, practitioners, and education authorities in evaluating and planning for improvement in Gaelic Education. It is based on evidence from inspections, reviews and validated self-evaluation, covering all sectors of Gaelic Education…

Exploring multilingualism as a complex, context-related, societal and individual phenomenon, this book centres around perspectives on how multiple languages are made (in)visible within educational settings in the Global North. The authors of each chapter compare and contrast findings across geographical contexts with the goal of understanding the…

Now available in a revised and expanded edition, this accessible guide introduces readers to the issues and controversies surrounding the education of language minority students in the United States. What makes this book a perennial favorite are the succinct descriptions of alternative practices for transforming our schools and students' futures,…

This comprehensive and insightful book shows how present educational policies and practices to educate language minority students in the United States ignore an essential characteristic--their emergent bilingualism. In one accessible guide, the authors compile the most up-to-date research findings to demonstrate how ignoring children's…

Racial and language minority students who must repeat high school exit exams are at increased risk of dropping out of school. Each time students fail an exit exam, they become less confident that they will ever pass and more unsure about their ability to graduate and their postsecondary plans. The relationship between students' culture and their…

This report examines trends in the characteristics of the U.S. language minority population from 1979 through 1999. It examines changes in the numbers and proportion of the language minority population compared to the total U.S. population 5 to 24 years old and also discusses changes in the language minority population by language subgroups and…

This guide contains specific comments and insights concerning the application of a standards-based evaluation and accountability system in schools and school districts that enroll significant concentrations of language minority and immigrant students. The guide introduces key concepts associated with the development and maintenance of a…

This Issue Brief examines growth in the population of English Language Learner (ELL) students in U.S. public schools between the 1994 and 2000 school years. Data are drawn from the Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS) of 1993-94 and 1999-2000. Nationally, the number of ELL students in public schools increased from approximately two million students…

A discussion of school partnerships with linguistic minority communities (1) contextualizes and defines such partnerships, (2) notes the typical obstacles that prevent educators and communities from developing partnerships successfully, (3) highlights promising evolving practices associated with effective partnerships, (4) recommends future…

Canada's Constitution guarantees the right to the English-speaking minority in Quebec and the French-speaking minority elsewhere in Canada to have their children receive K-12 public education in the language of the linguistic minority of that province. A working group recommended a guarantee to Francophones of a distinct right of management and…

This publication presents a summary of an ongoing collaborative research study that is both national in scope and practical for immediate local decision making in schools. It is written for bilingual and English as a Second Language program coordinators and local school policy makers. The research includes findings from five large urban and…

The design of California's Structured English Immersion (SEI) program for limited-English-speaking students, which replaced its bilingual education program by state mandate, is described and suggestions for implementation are offered. SEI has several variations, each characterized by (1) extensive use of English and (2) use of…

This book examines how in a multicultural, multilingual society, schools must involve parents and community members in literacy teaching and learning. By building on existing literacy, schools can become catalysts in empowering children, families, and teachers. Collaborative literacy teaching and learning can be a positive force in redefining…

This report was designed for teachers and teacher educators who, in their teaching, curricula, and relationships with students, struggle with fundamental cultural questions: Who are my students? What kinds of cultural influences shape their lives? How do they and I shape and construct this culture on an ongoing basis? and What are my own cultural…

This toolkit has been developed in an attempt to ensure that limited-English-proficient (LEP) students are provided with fair opportunities to learn that reflect the resources, conditions, and practices they need to achieve higher standards. This framework embraces the concept that local decisions must be made regarding how to best support and…