Nearly 20 years ago, the powerful motion picture The Mission, starring Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons, was released, bringing worldwide exposure to the Guarani aboriginal people. Based on historical events from the 1700s and set in Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina, the film was simultaneously moving and inspiring, yet also a disturbing…

The "Facilities Performance Indicators Survey" ("FPI") supersedes and builds upon the two major surveys APPA conducted in the past: the Comparative Costs and Staffing (CCAS) survey and the Strategic Assessment Model (SAM). The "FPI" covers all the materials collected in CCAS and SAM, along with some select new data points and improved survey…

Few things are more important for school safety and security than controlling access to buildings and grounds. It is relatively easy to incorporate effective access control measures in new school designs but more difficult in existing schools, where most building and site features cannot be readily altered or reconfigured. The National…

In her book on the national cosmology of Hutu refugees in Tanzania, "Purity and Exile," Liisa Malkki argues that in the modern age of nation-states, culture and identity are conceived in fundamentally territorial terms. Thus, being "out of place" disrupts and threatens national identity which attempts to appear pure, whole and…

Originating from many different sources, Russian as a heritage language in Finland displays a spectrum of developmental tendencies: both attrition and maintenance can be observed in various degrees. The Finnish educational system allows for the organization of bilingual pre-schools and schools when there are sufficient numbers of potential pupils.…

While there is evidence that the dual language model has the potential to raise the academic achievement of English language learners (ELLs), the policies mandated through the No Child Left Behind Act do not support maintenance of the student's heritage language which is an integral part of the model. Using symbolic interactionism as a framework,…

In the current english-only programs in California, Arizona, and Massachusetts only a small percentage of students are learning English and subject matter content. This violates the success in practice prong of "Castaneda v. Pickard" (1981). Further, these program failures bolster the claim that these programs also violate castaneda's…

Background: Policies set at the state, district, and school levels can support and enhance a healthy and safe school environment. Methods: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducts the School Health Policies and Programs Study every 6 years. In 2006, computer-assisted telephone interviews or self-administered mail questionnaires were…

This paper reviews factors contributing to the loss of language and culture of the Tarahumara people of Mexico and describes a program aimed at preserving Tarahumara language and culture. The Tarahumara people reside in the Sierra Tarahumara in the northern state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Although the Tarahumara people successfully avoided…

This manual, published by the Illinois Association of School Boards, was designed to be used as a teaching tool and reference source for overseeing effective school maintenance. Section 1 describes the basics of good school maintenance, including managing the program, using computers, controlling energy costs, ensuring safe practices, designing…

Reports from the Indian Nations At Risk Task Force and the White House Conference on Indian Education identify as a national priority the need to retain American Indian and Alaska Native languages both as central elements in Native cultures and as national resources. A personal narrative of an Alaska Native man who grew up in the 1930s shows the…

The Custodians/Security Department is a support service of the Des Moines (Iowa) Independent Community School District. Responsibilities of the department do not stop with the care of the facility, but extend to providing a clean, safe environment for all who use school facilities. Program evaluation in the 1993-94 school year reveals a total…

Discusses "Te Whariki," the New Zealand Draft Curriculum Guidelines for Early Childhood Education, in relation to historical and cultural contexts. Addresses aspirations of the Maori people for their language and culture to be protected and sustained. Asserts a bicultural imperative for early childhood education curriculum. (BGC)

Reviews the literature about preschool immersion education for Indigenous languages. Describes the two oldest and best known of such programs: Kohanga Reo ("language nests") in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Punana Leo in Hawaii. Looks at existing U.S. programs, particularly Arapaho preschools in Wyoming. Outlines major themes and issues in developing…

The literature on language diversity, linguistic human rights, and language renewal is reviewed, and Web sites dedicated to Aboriginal languages are examined. The Internet provides a resource center where grammars, lexicons, fonts, and other resources can be developed; a means of learning languages; and a medium for communicating in Aboriginal…