Focuses on interactive journals and literature study to illustrate four principles: connect students' background knowledge and personal experiences with literacy lessons; foster the use of students' primary language in literacy lessons; create opportunities for students to meaningfully and authentically apply their developing oral language and…

A study of four bilingual special education settings found teachers chose different approaches for teaching writing: interactive journals, Optimal Learning Environment (OLE), Writer's Workshop, and a combination of journal writing, brainstorming-planning, and spelling practice. One year later, only participants in OLE demonstrated significant…

This study examines the short-term effects of a two-way bilingual education program on the literacy development of students in kindergarten and first grade. This study compared the literacy development of two groups of children who received different proportions of instruction in English and Spanish. Both the experimental and control groups…

Over a period of twenty years, Japanese language teaching has firmly established itself within primary school programs in most Australian States and Territories. Today the question is how to develop Japanese language education further in innovative ways suitable for learners' needs in the 21st century. In this report, the author examines the…

As the number of off-shore content-based courses presented by Western universities increases, the issue as to the suitability of elements of constructivist pedagogy arises. This paper reports on mainland Chinese student views of two different types of collaborative work conducted bilingually within a Master of Education program specializing in…

Recently the author was working with a group of elementary bilingual teachers along a remote section of the Texas/Mexico border. She had been asked to facilitate the development of their social studies curriculum for their new dual-language program. She realized that although these teachers had experience working with culturally and linguistically…

This practitioner issue brief outlines successful strategies and recommendations for state-level policymakers, administrators, schools, and districts that are based on a 5-year evaluation study on the learning environment for ELLs in the state of California. This brief offers four critical building blocks that should be in place to effectively…

The Compton Community College (CCC) General Education Associate of Arts/Certification Bilingual Immersion Program (BIP) is designed to allow English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) or limited English proficiency (LEP) students to study subjects beyond ESL in a bilingual setting. Current ESL programs offer students no oppurtunity to take degree/transfer…

A study sought: to identify regular classroom teachers' philosophies of bilingual education and the relationship of this philosophy to instructional decisions; to have teachers describe the operational details of the bilingual program in their school, and their perceptions of program effectiveness; and to have teachers describe the institutional…

This paper identifies how evaluation and research can contribute to federal policies for language-minority students who have limited proficiency in English. Federal bilingual education policies are controversial, and the debate benefits from systematically collected information about, and impartial evaluation of, bilingual programs. Specific focus…

Applying industrial organizational theory to classroom management, the authors examined the organization of a complex bilingual curriculum for the effects of shared authority among students and teachers and the effects of shared decision-making among staff. Using a math-science curriculum called "Finding Out: Descubrimiento," the nine…

Significant attention has been given to the effectiveness of the federal bilingual education program, Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1975, although evaluations have often focused on philosophical issues rather than educational outcomes. Measures of program effectiveness have often been inappropriate for the goals,…

This study analyzes how two bilingual classroom language distribution approaches affect classroom language use patterns. The two strategies, separate instruction in the two languages vs. the new concurrent language usage approach (NCA) allowing use of both languages with strict guidelines for language alternation, are observed on videotapes of a…

A review of research reveals little attention paid to the problems of a comparative approach to the analysis of bilingual education (BE). This paper explores some of the functions and problems of a comparative study of BE to clarify the question of whether BE research can be generalized. While problems of comparative research are common to all…

Curricular experiences in a bilingual/multicultural teacher education program should be designed around the experiential and conceptual backgrounds of multiethnic children and youth. The concepts, generalizations, content, language patterns, values, attitudes, habits, and cultural heritage familiar to all racial and cultural groups should…