IN THE NEWS 
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- ESOL Training Cut Would Be Felt in South Florida
- MIAMI, FL -- One in every seven students in Miami-Dade and Broward public schools is learning English as a second
language. Despite special training for reading teachers who work with them, these students are not very likely to read at grade level or graduate from high school. Yet several North Florida legislators are trying for a second time to slash training requirements for reading teachers. Advocates for students learning English say they will be handicapped by teachers with less training, and cuts might run afoul of a 1990 legal settlement that led to the special training in the first place. (Miama Herald)
- This article is available only in PDF format.
- Intentan recortes en la ensenanza de ingles
- MIAMI, FL -- Aunque escasamente una tercera parte de los estudiantes que aprenden ingles en la Florida leen a niveles de sus grados y solamente la mitad se gradua de secundaria, algunos legisladores del estado estan tratando por segunda vez de recortar los entrenamientos de los maestros de Lectura que trabajan con esos estudiantes. (El Nuevo Herald).
- Este articulo esta disponible solamente en formato del PDF.
- Bilingual Educators Ratchet Up Criticism of Federal NCLB Law
- SAN ANTONIO, TX -- Speaker after speaker at the National Association for Bilingual Education's annual conference urged bilingual teachers to oppose the No Child Left Behind Act's requirements for English-language learners. That tone was reinforced by the keynote address delivered to the 7,000 educators meeting here by Alfie Kohn, a prominent education author who is a critic of standardized testing, the accountability movement, and the federal education law. Mr. Kohn listed groups of students who, in his view, are put at a disadvantage by the requirements of the law, including students of color, English-language learners, and "students who aren't affluent." Then he said: "We are facing nothing short of an educational ethnic cleansing in America." (Education Week).
- English Learners in California Schools: Unequal Resources, Unequal Outcomes
- WASHINGTON DC -- by Gandara, P., Rumberger, R., Maxwell-Jolly, J. and Callahan, R. The Williams vs the State of California class action suit on behalf of poor children in that state argues that California provides a fundamentally inequitable education to students based on wealth and language status. This article, an earlier version of which was prepared as background to that case, reviews the conditions of schooling for English learners in the state with the largest population of such students, totaling nearly 1.6 million in 2003, and comprising about 40 percent of the nation's English learners. (Education Policy Analysis Archives, 11(36).
- This publication is available only in PDF format.
- Authorization to Teach English Learners Pursuant to SB 2042
- SACRAMENTO, CA. -- California's Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) continues to acknowledge pre-SB2042 B/CLAD (Bilingual Teacher Licensing) emphasis programs. Although some teacher preparation programs have elimated their former BCLAD emphasis programs due to a misinterpretation regarding the lack of new standards for such programs, state Education Code still supports the continuation of this authorization until the new bilingual teacher preparation standards are developed. (California Commission on Teacher Credentialing Memo)
- This publication is available only in PDF format.
- The Gap Between English and Non English Fluent Students Increases in
California
- CALIFORNIA -- According to recently released Stanford 9 data, the gap
between English fluent and non English fluent students has increased in
California at every grade level since Ron Unz's anti bilingual education
proposition came into affect. Since California's Proposition 227 passed in
1998, 88% of California's non English fluent students have been placed
into English immersion classes which are designed to not normally exceed
one year. Since 1998, Stanford 9 test scores have shown a widening gap
between non English fluent and English fluent students. According to Denis
O'Leary, Far West Region of the League of United Latin American Citizens,
while proclaiming success, proponents of "one year of intensive English
immersion" are now suggesting that standards be lowered. "This is a
deliberate ploy to detract the public from the English immersion failure
to make close to one million Californian immigrant students English
fluent. This calculated distraction from massive failure in California is
intended to promote the same oppressive methodology in other states."
(League of United Latin American Citizens)
- This publication is available only in PDF format.
California's English-Fluency Numbers Help Fuel Debate
- CALIFORNIA -- The percentage of English-language learners that
California school districts reclassify each year as fluent in English has
increased slightly since the anti- bilingual-education Proposition 227
was implemented in the state three years ago. While both proponents and
opponents of bilingual education say the state's "redesignation rate" is
little understood by people outside education, it has been used by people
in both camps to try to sway public opinion over the controversial issue,
in California and nationwide. California officials and other experts
contend, however, that district redesignation rates don't reflect how long
it takes students to become fluent in English, or whether their English
acquisition programs were effective. (Education Week)
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Early Bilingual Programs Found To Boost Test Scores (HEADLINE
REPORT)
- WASHINGTON DC -- English-language learners do better academically
over the long term if they participate in special programs to learn
English at the start of their school careers, rather than attend only
mainstream classes, according to one of the largest longitudinal studies of
such students ever conducted. That conclusion comes from a study of
English-language learners released last month by Wayne P. Thomas and
Virginia P. Collier, researchers at George Mason University in Fairfax,
Va. The authors say the study also confirms what they found in earlier
research: Students who take bilingual education classes do much better on
standardized tests after entering mainstream classes than students who
take English-only classes. (Education Week)
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Full-Text Report Available for Download at CMMR
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Executive Summary Available for Download at CMMR
- These publications only available in PDF format.
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Two-Way Immersion Shows Promising Results: Findings from a New
Study
- Two-way immersion (TWI) programs (also known as dual language
programs) are becoming an increasingly attractive option for schools and
districts that are looking for ways to strengthen and develop the language
resources of all of their students. As part of a 7-year study of two-way
immersion, researchers Julie Sugarman and Liz Howard, at the Center for
Applied Linguistics (CAL), collected data on the language development and
academic achievement of 344 students in 11 Spanish/English TWI
programs across the country. Half of the students in the study were
native Spanish speakers; half were native speakers of English. All had
been enrolled in TWI since kindergarten or first grade. The programs in
the study varied in terms of geographical location, student population,
and number of years in operation. This article presents the findings from
3 years of data collection.
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ERIC/CLL LANGUAGE LINK
- The ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics offers
"ERIC/CLL Language Link". Each issue covers topics
of interest to the foreign language, English as a second language,
linguistics, and cross cultural education fields. News from the National
Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education (NCLE), from the ERIC system,
and from partnering organizations in the field are regular features of
ERIC/CLL Language Link, as are journal reviews and publications
announcements. URLs are provided throughout the newsletter to guide you
to additional sources of information.
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English Literacy and Language Minorities in the United States
- Elizabeth Greenberg
- Reynaldo F. Macías
- David Rhodes
- Tsze Chan
- This report from the National Center For Education Statistics examines
the language and literacy skills of adults living in the United States in the
context of their race and ethnicity, their country of birth, and the
language(s) they spoke as young children. Chapter 2 of this report
presents an overview of the oral and literacy proficiencies of adults
living in the United States broken down by race and ethnicity,
immigration status, and language(s) spoken while growing up. Chapter 3
examines the relationship between English literacy and formal education.
Chapter 4 explores the relationship between employment and country of
birth, language fluency and literacy. Chapter 5 summarizes the important
findings of this report.
- This publication is available only in PDF format.
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The Transfer of Skills from Spanish to English: A Study of Young
Learners
- Diane August Ph.D, Center for Applied Linguistics
- Margarita Calderon Ph.D, Johns Hopkins University
- Maria Carlo Ph.D, Harvard University
- The major research question that guided this study is "Does transfer
exist? " That is, for children entering school in the early grades, do
literacy skills that are acquired in Spanish actually transfer during the
process of learning to read in English? Moreover, how is this
demonstrated? Thus, the focus of the study is on understanding the
manner in which enabling skills for reading are transferable across
languages, in this case Spanish and English. The study examined how
performance on indicators of Spanish reading at the end of second grade
(April 1999) predicted English reading performance at the end of the
third grade (April 2000).
- Cummins (1984) proposed a theoretical framework that has significantly
influenced the way educators think about instructional experiences
designed to benefit second language learners. It describes the relationship
between second language development and academic achievement. One
essential component of this framework centers on the notion that
academically mediated language skills can be transferred across languages
in a manner that facilitates the acquisition of these skills in the second
language. This notion was formalized in the linguistic interdependence
hypothesis that states that:
- The level of L2 [second language] competence that a bilingual
child attains is partially a function of the type of competence
the child has developed in L1 [native language] at the time
when intensive exposure to L2 begins (Cummins, 1979, p.
233)
.
- Previous research on the transfer of skills from Spanish to English
indicates that there is transfer in phonological awareness (Durgunoglu,
Nagy, and Hancin-Bhatt, in press), word reading (Lambert and Tucker,
1972; Kendall, Lajeunesse, Chmilar, Shapson, and Shapson, 1987),
vocabulary knowledge (see Fitzgerald 1995 for a review), and
comprehension (Escamilla, 1987; Jimenez, Garcia and Pearson,
1995,1996).This investigation builds on Cummins' theoretical
framework and previous research on transfer.
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School Segregation on the Rise Despite Growing Diversity Among School
Aged Children
- Almost a half century after the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that
Southern school segregation was unconstitutional and "inherently
unequal," a new study from The Civil Rights Project of Harvard
University shows that segregation continued to intensify throughout the
1990s. The study, "Schools More Separate: Consequences of a Decade of
Resegregation," by Gary Orfield with Nora Gordon, analyzes statistics
from the 1998-99 school year, the latest data available from the
National Center of Education Statistics' Common Core of Education
Statistics. Researchers found that much of the progress for black students
since the 1960s was eliminated during a decade which brought three
Supreme Court decisions limiting desegregation remedies. The data also
shows that Latinos, the nation's largest minority, have become
increasingly isolated for the last 30 years, with segregation surpassing
that of blacks, and the rapid growth of suburban minorities has not
produced integrated schools. (The Civil Rights Project Harvard Graduate
School of Education)
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En Español - La segregación en las escuelas está aumentando a pesar de
la mayor diversidad entre los niños en edad escolar
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Executive Summary
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Full-Text Study by Gary Orfield and Nora Gordon
- This publication is available only in PDF format.
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An Overview of the Preparation and Certification of Teachers Working
with Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students
- This descriptive study combined wide-scale survey data with qualitative
analysis to explore the preparation of teachers of English language
learners (ELLs) in institutions of higher education throughout the U.S.
The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE)
disseminated a survey to its member institutions and website users
designed to ascertain the breadth and depth of preparation programs for
teachers of ELLs. The National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education built
on this data by comparing AACTE's findings to its analysis of both state
level bilingual education teacher licensure requirements and the content
of courses required by institutions of higher education for a degree
and/or licensure in bilingual education. Licensure and course
requirements were categorized according to areas of knowledge, and
revealed that while typically emphasizing the areas of pedagogy and
cultural/linguistic diversity, by contrast, the area of linguistics
receives less emphasis at both state and institutional levels. At the state
level, while there is great variance in the ways in which states mandate
requirements for bilingual education teacher licensure, the requirements
dictated by the states do impact the programming that occurs in
institutions of higher education. And at the institutional level, it was
found that programs vary in the depth of their coverage of areas of
knowledge; in specific, bachelor's programs were found to be more likely
to cover studies within an area of knowledge through a broad overview or
survey course that may combine various topics or areas within a single
course. Findings indicate further that only a small minority of
institutions of higher education offer a program specifically to prepare
bilingual education teachers, and fewer than 1/6 th of institutions
studied require preparation for mainstream teachers regarding the
education of ELLs.
- This publication is available only in PDF format.
-
Success for English Language Learners: Teacher Preparation Policies
and Practices
- A Position Paper of the California Council on the Education of Teachers,
the California Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, the State of
California Association of Teacher Educators, and the Independent
California Colleges and Universities Council on the Education of Teachers;
Prepared by the Joint Policy Committee. This policy paper was adopted by
the Delegate Assembly of the California Council on the Education of
Teachers following prior review and recommendation by the Boards of
Directors of the four organizations represented by the Joint Policy
Committee.
- This publication is available only in PDF format.
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Beginning Teacher Induction: A Report on Beginning Teacher
Effectiveness and Retention
- National statistics show a rise in the number of beginning teachers
undergoing formal induction in their first year of teaching. This report
by Serpell and Bozeman discusses the effectiveness of induction programs
and resulting outcomes for beginning teacher retention, beginning teacher
effectiveness and mentor participation. The various components of
induction programs are provided with in-depth discussion of the role of
the mentor, characteristics of effective mentorship and of successful
induction programs, release time, and program evaluation and
assessment. Included are aspects of induction programs that
administrators, mentors and inductees identify as essential to a
program's success. Indicators of increased teacher effectiveness as they
resulted from programs in California, Idaho, Montana, North Carolina,
Wisconsin, and Toronto, Canada are detailed. Statistics showing high
retention rates for inducted teachers are given for Texas, California,
Montana, and Wisconsin.
- This publication is available only in PDF format.
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The Effects of Exemplary Teacher Induction Programs
- This report by Feinman-Nemser, et. al. summarizes what was learned
from reviewing the induction literature. It is not, however, a traditional
review. the authors have chosen to step back from descriptions of
induction activity and summaries of existing research to look critically
at the way the concept of induction is understood. What does induction
mean? How is the term used? What questions and issues are associated
with different formulations?
- This publication is available only in PDF format.
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From High School to Teaching: Many Steps, Who Makes It?
- In this paper the authors, Vegas, Murnane, and Willett, focus on the roles
that race, ethnicity, and academic skills play in predicting whether high
school students persist along each of the various steps of the path into
teaching. They show that the challenge of creating a racially and
ethnically diverse teaching force is not primarily one of influencing the
occupational decisions of minority college graduates. Instead, the critical
challenge is to increase the high school graduation, college enrollment,
and college graduation rates of minority youth.
- This publication is available only in PDF format.
- HEAR THE LATEST STORIES FROM NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO
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DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFT
- Latinos have quickly become America's largest minority population, and the Pew Hispanic Center has reported that Latino births in the United States are outpacing even the rate of Latino immigration. Terence Smith discusses the unique American experience of second-generation Latino citizens with Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center and co-author of the report.
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To download the RealAudio Player consult RealAudio's home page. For
the free Player go to the download page.
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NEW YORK CITY & BILINGUAL EDUCATION
- The New York City schools are poised to become the next big battleground
over bilingual education. Schools Chancellor Harold Levy is scheduled to
propose limits on the amount of time students can spend in bilingual
programs. NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports.
-
To download the RealAudio Player consult RealAudio's home page. For
the free Player go to the download page.
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STANDARDIZED TESTING AND MINORITY STUDENTS
- National Public Radio's Weekend All Things Considered Gary Orfield of the
Harvard Civil Rights Project and Linda McNeil of Rice University
participated in a study that looked into how standardized testing impacts
minority students -- especially those so-called high-stakes exams given
to high school students to determine whether or not they may graduate.
The study found that these tests do discriminate against minorities and
force teachers to take valuable class time away from important subjects
in order to help students prepare for the exams. (Requires Real Audio
Software)
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the free Player go to the download page.
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THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
- If you are black or Hispanic in this country, you are less likely to have a
computer. If you live in a household earning over $75,000 a year, you
are five times more likely to have a computer. If you live in a city or
suburban area, you are ten times more likely to have a computer than in
a rural area. In a society where increasingly we are defined by access to
information and what we earn is what we learn, if you don't have access
to technology, your going to be left in the digital dark ages. That's what
the digital devide is all about. Newshours Jeffrey Kaye takes a look at the
chasm between the haves and have nots in the world of cyberspace.
(Requires free "Real Audio" software)
-
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the free Player go to the download page.
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SAT - "STRIVERS"
- Is there a way for colleges and universities to diversify their student
bodies without relying on racial preferences? One of the nation's largest
testing services thinks there IS a way to identify students who've
overcome hardships, to become what the testers call "strivers." NPR's
Claudio Sanchez reports. (Requires free "Real Audio" software)
-
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the free Player go to the download page.
- SAT Officials At Odds On 'Strivers' Research Project - The sponsor of the
SAT and the testing service that administers it appear to be at odds over
the potential uses of forthcoming research on students who, based on such
factors as racial, social, or family background, exceed expectations on
the widely used college entrance exam. The Educational Testing Service
says it is too early to decide whether the so called "Strivers" project will
even lead to a formula the ETS can offer colleges for identifying such
students. But the Princeton, N.J.-based test-maker has already received
inquiries from admissions officials seeking such a tool, ETS officials say.
(Education Week)
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READING REPORTCARD
- Nation's Reading Report -- From National Public Radio's Morning Edition.
NPR's Anthony Brooks and Richard Gonzales report on two contrasting
states in the Department of Education's reading report. Connecticut got
the highest scores in the nation, jumping over Maine with a huge
increase. California, which used to be at or near the top, continues to
languish at the end of the government's table. (Requires free "Real Audio"
software)
- Reading-- from National Public Radio's All Things Considered, March 4,
1999, reports on the recently-released NAEP scores. The US Department
of Education released its biggest report on how well school children are
reading. Known as the nation's "Reading Report Card" this year's state by
state breakdown of scores shows some encouraging upward trends,
especially in the northeastern US. There is little evidence though that the
poorest performing states - namely Mississippii, Louisiana an
California, are making much progress. (Requires free "Real Audio"
software)
- Education Deptartment Releases Reading Scores -- NPR's Claudio Sanchez
reports that the Department of Education releases the reading scores of
the nation's 4th, 8th and 12th graders this morning. Little attention was
paid to the report until several years ago, when it revealed that nearly
half of the nation's 4th graders read below their grade level. This year
scores are up. But critics say national standardized testing doesn't
adequately measure the performance of students in different states or
provide a means to improve for states that lag. (Requires free "Real
Audio" software)
-
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the free Player go to the download page.
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COPING WITH PROP 209.
- Redefining Diversity. PBS OnLine NewsHour reporter Spencer Michels
reports that California law schools are looking for new ways to achieve
diversity in the wake of the passage of Proposition 209, which eliminated
affirmative action from the state's public education system. (Requires
free "Real Audio" software)
- Coping With Prop 209. - Full-text transcript of above report.
-
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the free Player go to the download page.
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LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY
- In the first of a two part series on language and identity NPR's Mandalit
del Barco reports that depending upon where you live in America and
where you come from, accents can be a benefit or a hindrance both
socially and professionally. There are companies that specialize in
"accent reduction," offering classes and coaching to people who want to
shed a regional or foreign accent. In California, where voters recently
rejected bilingual education and mandated English-only education, many
immigrants are refining their English in such courses. Hear more on
NPR's report "LOSE THAT ACCENT" for Morning Edition. (Requires free
"RealAudio" software)
- In part two of the series on language and identity, NPR's Mandalit Del
Barco reports on Latinos in the United States who are improving their
Spanish or who are learning the language for the first time. About one
quarter of all Latinos in the U.S. speak only English. Hear more on
LATINOS LEARNING SPANISH. (Requires free "RealAudio" software)
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free Player go to the download page.
By Tom Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle
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