In recent decades, bilingual education policies, programs, pedagogies, and practices have been constrained by neoliberal agendas which have undermined the radical vision of bilingual education as a means toward self-determination that the Chicana/o Movement youth articulated more than 50 years ago. This narrowing of educational possibilities has…

The Colorado Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act requires grade-level attainment in literacy in English for students in grades K-3. Its practical outcome, however, has been to pressure schools with bilingual programs to shift their instructional language allocations towards more English in the early grades. Proposed rule revisions debated…

The purpose of this study was to examine the fast mapping skills in Spanish-English bilingual preschool children in two learning contexts: storybook reading and cartoon viewing. Eighteen typically developing Spanish-English bilingual preschool children completed a fast mapping task in Spanish (L1) and in English (L2). In 4 different sessions, each…

Reading comprehension instruction has been recognized as a key factor in developing any reading and literacy program. Therefore, many attempts were devoted to improve explicit comprehension strategy instruction at different school levels and fields including EFL and ESL. Despite these efforts, explicit comprehension instruction is still drought…

This study investigates the interrelationship of categorical funding mechanisms within the Colorado school finance system for English language learners (ELLs) in an effort to test overall equity of the system in light of an underfunded categorical program. Using several analytical techniques, the study set out to determine the degree to which…

This article describes three service-learning projects implemented in three different ESL programs in the United States. Each description includes typical course goals, service-learning assignments, reflection activities, student learning outcomes, and pedagogical challenges. The first project was developing digital literacy through…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore and identify issues related to training teachers to use a bilingual writing rubric designed to examine the biliterate writing of emerging bilingual students who are participating in a biliteracy model. Findings indicate the need to provide clarifications on the rubric rating criteria and the…

This study responds to regional and national needs by examining the impact on students' English language proficiency of a particular set of ELL-specific classroom materials in combination with a specific teacher professional development program. The classroom materials used in this study, entitled On Our Way to English (OWE), were authored by…

Before awarding waivers from core tenets of the No Child Left Behind Act to 11 states, the U.S. Department of Education ordered changes to address a significant weakness in most states' proposals: how they would hold schools accountable for groups of students deemed academically at risk, particularly those in special education or learning English.…

Today, English language learners (ELLs)--students whose primary language is other than English--are the fastest-growing major school population in the United States. Between 2000-01 and 2010-11, the number of these students, whose level of English proficiency is not sufficient to support learning in a regular English language classroom, rose 18…

Lorenza Lara, Secondary Literacy Coordinator for the Denver (CO) Public Schools, specializes in secondary English Learner (EL) education. According to Lorenza, EL research has shown that educators often confuse youths' regular development in a second language with literacy difficulties. This research also has demonstrated the individuality of…

The purpose of this issues brief was to obtain a better understanding of how online programs are dealing with students who have been identified as at-risk. The first section, "Strategies for Working with At-Risk Student Populations in Online Environments," documents a sampling of K-12 online programs currently working with at-risk…

Public-school policy and federal law both emphasize parental involvement, yet there is insufficient research guiding meaningful collaboration between school practitioners and immigrant parents. This article reports on results gleaned from a larger study of school-based adult ESL classes, focusing on the role that these classes could play in…

The materials in this teaching guide represent the first quarter of a community college program designed to teach paraprofessionals how to tutor in an adult literacy program. Techniques for teaching reading and English as a second language are included. A pretest of paraprofessional knowledge of reading and a questionnaire for paraprofessionals…

The materials in this teaching guide represent the second quarter of a community college program designed to teach paraprofessionals how to tutor in an adult literacy program. Techniques for teaching reading and English as a second language are included. The first section of this workshop includes information for tutors on the principles of…