Notes the great demand for information on promising practices for teaching language-minority students. Introduces the succeeding articles in this issue, noting how all the authors argue for the need to pull together what is known about effective teaching, second-language acquisition, applied cognitive research, and cross-cultural communication…

Fifteen rural elementary school teachers in classrooms with high proportions of limited-English-speaking students completed self-reporting instruments and their supervisors evaluated their effectiveness. Those teachers with the most effective strategies for low-achieving students reported lower toleration of maladaptive behavior and some active…

Discusses results of a study of language arts and literacy instruction of language-minority students in 18 urban classrooms. Delineates a framework, based on the study, for identifying critical instructional practices that appeared to facilitate both learning and language development for language-minority students. Includes several examples of…

This review of research considers how best to teach English-language learners. A realistic appraisal of the empirical database indicates that research findings have failed to provide answers to questions about the importance of native language instruction and the best age and best methods for introducing academic instruction in English. The review…

A multivocal synthesis involving 13 educators and researchers investigated effective instruction for English-language learners and found five specific instructional variables, including: building and using vocabulary as a curricula anchor, using visuals to reinforce concepts, implementing cooperative learning and peer-tutoring strategies, using…

Reviews the results of a 1991 U.S. Department of Education report entitled "A Descriptive Study of Significant Features of Exemplary Special Alternative Instructional Programs." The features of nine exemplary special alternative instructional programs are described that appeared to contribute to positive outcomes for students from diverse…

This article discusses instructional strategies likely to be effective with culturally and linguistically diverse students regardless of placement. It addresses assessment and misclassification; overreferral or underreferral; differing approaches to second language instruction; and the importance of transfer between languages, opportunities for…

Evaluation of a structured immersion program, operating since 1968 in Uvalde, Texas as part of the United States Department of Education's Project Follow Through, suggests that the structured immersion approach has had a consistent positive effect on the academic achievement of the language minority students involved. Approximately 130 Spanish…

The current state of the knowledge base on the effectiveness of specific instructional practices for English-language learners was examined by conducting an exploratory meta-analysis on eight studies of instructional interventions and using qualitative synthesis to supplement this analysis. The first data source was the eight intervention studies…

This guide provides practical information for teachers and others working with students who have learning difficulties (such as learning or language disabilities) and for whom English is a second language. Emphasis is on productive instructional strategies and approaches. The book is based on results of focus groups comprised of practicing…

This article discusses issues in referral and special education instruction for students from language-minority groups. It discusses inadequacies in assessment and placement; development of effective and feasible instructional strategies through collaboration between bilingual education and special education; and potential solutions involving both…

A structured immersion program, coupled with an effective curriculum and empirically validated teaching procedure, was offered to elementary Asian students entering a California school. This approach appeared to have significantly better results, and its effects were maintained for up to two years after completion. (LMO)

Despite claims that structured immersion programs for language minority students cannot work for low-income students, two immersion projects with low-income Hispanic and Asian children worked; their effects appeared to endure even after students entered the mainstream. (BJV)

This guide, provided by a partisan education policy public interest group, seeks to answer the most frequently asked questions about teaching, designing, and evaluating an English immersion classroom and the research underpinnings in favor of English immersion. This guide aims to help teachers and policymakers better understand what English…