Argues that educators should provide black youth with the history of Black and Standard English and encourage them to examine these two forms critically, along with the social and political situations that created them. Young black people who know the value of language and culture will not have to surrender one of these languages. (SLD)

Argues that educational research does not support the effects of transitional bilingual education as a superior instructional practice for improving the English-language achievement of limited-English-proficient students. Real studies are needed of the effectiveness of intensive English language instruction. (SLD)

Suggests an evaluation framework for language teachers' inservice courses regarding the degree to which they offer participants the opportunity to become more open to "otherness." The article describes training courses in five European countries and examines how they typically bring participants into contact with natives of another…

Describes the role of mental health and educational consultants working with a five-year-old selectively mute child in Head Start. Describes strategies implemented in the interdisciplinary work with the teachers, parent, speech therapist, and child. Suggests that the more flexible and adaptive the consultant, the more accepted he or she will be…

A teacher describes how she integrated telecommunications and Internet technology into her first-grade language arts curriculum. The use of electronic mail to communicate with other student penpals generated student enthusiasm and motivation which improved reading and writing skills. Other projects included researching questions using Internet…

Presents four bilingual education workshop sessions: (1) educational needs of bilingual children and the rationale for bilingual education; (2) developing teachers' role in bilingual education, including building home language skills and enhancing language development; (3) building teacher-parent relationships through positive personal contacts;…

Studied semantic and cognitive development of Korean-speaking and English-speaking children. Found that categorization and a naming spurt emerged later in Korean speakers than in English speakers, while means-ends abilities and success/failure words emerged earlier in Korean speakers than in English speakers. Also, Korean-speaking mothers…

Reports on current educational issues in Quebec (Canada). Briefly covers some of the major issues addressed in the Estates General, the commission study on the future of education in Quebec. A Montreal School commissioner challenged the government's numbers concerning dropouts. Decentralization, whole language learning, and school rankings also…

This study examined reading instruction and its effects in schools with two different philosophical stances (process and traditional approaches to reading). Observations of six classes, three using traditional and three using process approaches, indicated that there were far more similarities than differences. Differences in school philosophy made…

Argues that use of theme-based curricula for preschool children is developmentally appropriate, provides an integrated approach to teaching and learning, enhances learning, and yields high levels of achievement. Provides supporting data from brain research and learning psychology. Includes a sample thematic unit and guidance for creating thematic…

Stresses the need for research examining the critical shortage of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in rural Canada. Results of a survey of 87 speech language pathologists in rural British Columbia and Saskatchewan (Canada) were similar to earlier American studies in that employment practices, employment benefits, lifestyle, and other personal…

This conversation between two teacher educators describes a project that integrated social studies and language arts methods classes in a cross-cultural setting. The integrated content evolved around themes of community building and cross-cultural communication. The paper reflects on teaching together in a traditional education program--its…

Describes the classrooms of two middle-school science teachers, reporting what they have noted regarding gender issues in the classroom, and describing strategies they find to be effective in helping girls--and boys--resist the negative effects of gender-binding in the middle school years. Discusses gender issues in language arts and what can be…

Discusses the foreign language teacher education project organized by the Modern Language Association to provide institutions the opportunity to develop exemplary programs in this field. Argues that the concept of articulation in this field currently focuses on irrelevant issues and that educators must formulate new concepts and tools to address…

This cross-curricular primary unit helps teachers and students get to know one another. Students collect information about their families, then create bulletin boards, class albums, graphs, and art projects. One activity is for students to invite their families into the classroom to share their projects and feast on traditional family foods. (SM)