In this interview, Reynaldo F. Macias, chair of the recently established Department of Chicana/o Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), talks about the historical significance of El Plan de Santa Barbara, its impact on Chicana/o studies throughout the Southwest, and its relevance in establishing a department at UCLA, and the…

This resource guide aims to provide mainstream teachers with practical, research-based advice on how to teach, evaluate, and nurture their limited-English-proficient (LEP) migrant students. Because migrant students are overwhelmingly Mexican or Mexican American, most examples in the guide focus on this population. The 12 chapters contain the…

A Mexican American teacher/administrator describes her experiences with bilingual education as a limited-English-proficient child, college student, bilingual teacher, graduate student, district administrator, teacher of bilingual teachers, and employee in a federal technical assistance center, and traces the impact of Title VII (the Bilingual…

Among over 600 Arizona students in grades 1-8 in maintenance bilingual programs, fluent Spanish-speaking students outperformed limited-Spanish-speaking students on a measure of Spanish reading, mathematics, social studies, and science achievement; girls achieved higher reading scores than boys; and 16 of 18 grade mean scores were equal to or…

Among 150 Mexican immigrant students followed throughout their careers in a Los Angeles high school, those who had entered U.S. schools after 2nd grade had lower graduation rates than those entering in grades K-2, but this was not related to differences in English proficiency, at-risk status early in high school, or family or peer factors. (SV)

This paper discusses the education of Mexican-American students along the Mexico-United States border. A brief review of historical and cultural perspectives suggests that the Mexican population in the border area continues to increase because the area is culturally and linguistically accomodating. Schools that teach the dominant Anglo culture…

Hispanic children are often considered ineligible for participation in programs for the gifted and talented because of identification procedures that rely heavily on tests which are inappropriate for use with Spanish-speaking children and because of the widespread acceptance of an essentially inaccurate definition of giftedness as synonymous with…

Of the 22 million children currently enrolled in U.S. schools, more than 2 million have limited English proficiency. Preschoolers and elementary-age children make up the greatest proportion of the immigrant student population, and many teachers need support in educating these young, linguistically diverse students. This digest reviews proven…

This newsletter theme issue includes five articles on migrant education and migrant students. "Creative Educational Opportunities for Migrant Students" (Abelardo Villarreal, Anita Tijerina Revilla) discusses the need to increase high school graduation rates among migrant students, the high dropout rate and low standardized test scores of…

This chapter discusses the educational needs of Mexican immigrant children and effective practices that meet those needs. During 1984-92, the number of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in public schools grew 70 percent to 2.3 million; three fourths of LEP students spoke Spanish; and 40 percent of these were born in Mexico. Increased…

The development of an inventory of Mexican immigrant students' reading preferences is described. A study involving 405 Mexican immigrant students in grades 6-9 in southern New Mexico examined various influences on reading preferences. Results indicate that although preferences differed by gender, grade level, and U.S. residence, titles reflecting…

Since 1990, growing numbers of migrant students have prompted Cobden School District (Illinois) to develop a bilingual education program incorporating native-language instruction for students who speak Spanish, content courses in Spanish, and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classes. The Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery is used to determine…

This document contains the 10 issues of the IDRA Newsletter published in 2002. The newsletter disseminates research findings, descriptions of successful programs and reforms, and other information related to equality of educational opportunity, focusing on Hispanic students, bilingual education, and Texas. Articles are: "Successful Bilingual…

Among 187 Arizona Mexican-American children with limited proficiency in both Spanish and English, participation in a maintenance bilingual education program during grades K-2 produced significant gains in oral language acquisition for both languages. Students with the lowest proficiency scores in kindergarten showed the greatest gains. (SV)

By focusing on advantages inherent in what are typically considered disadvantages for rural schools, 14 rural, southern California school districts cooperated in implementing a successful inquiry-based elementary science program. Isolation and low population density resulted in a stable teaching force familiar with the community, and the area's…