Describes a professional-development model implemented by a university and five inner-city elementary schools with high language-minority populations. The model involved volunteer primary-grade teachers trained in an integrated/language arts approach, regular contact with participating teachers, and establishment of collegial teams to provide peer…

Surveyed urban educators in England to study educational practices related to teaching community languages and training teachers in those languages for bilingual education. Responses of 17 educators show few opportunities at the primary level for children to learn their home languages in school. (SLD)

Argues that the historical development of U.S. bilingual education policy largely results from a morality based on economic and social interdependency. Explores strengths and limitations of that morality. Develops the construct of a spiritual morality that combines the powers of intellect, emotions, politics, and spirituality in support of…

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…

Responds to Scott Ferrin's argument (EJ 583 598) and, as the former policy director for the U.S. Office for Civil Rights (OCR), decries both Ferrin and OCR for their relentless and, in his view, unwarranted promotion of bilingual education. Contends that no civil-rights laws, including the Native American Languages Act (NALA), support or allow…

Results from 291 first-year Australian college students with learning and writing difficulties (language minorities or students from other countries) suggest a direct effect of those difficulties on performance in first-year biology. College language and learning services that address areas in which students recognize their difficulties may…

Examined how predominantly female, white preservice teachers' knowledge and beliefs about language issues changed after an intensive multicultural education course. Data from surveys and course assignments indicated that students made significant gains in three areas: personal beliefs about diversity; professional beliefs about diversity; and…

This paper presents the academic benefits of bilingual education gained by language-minority students, highlighting school districts that have had great success with bilingual education and discussing the negative consequences of the proposed English for Children initiative, which would end bilingual education and instead provide intensive…

Language teachers in the Ukrainian community undertook a complex literacy initiative to investigate and improve Ukrainian-English bilingualism/biliteracy in Western Canada and throughout the diaspora. Documents project activities over several years, presents findings of student/teacher needs assessments, shares the approach to reading and reveals…

Argues that attempts to institute proper and effective methods of educating non English speaking students cannot be reduced simply to issues of language, but rest on a full understanding of the ideological elements that generate and sustain linguistic, cultural, and racial discrimination, which represent vestiges of a colonial legacy in today's…

To make standards inclusive for today's diverse student populations, educators must support and cultivate five conditions. Standards should be developmental and flexible, employ varied assessment tools, allow equitable access to meaningful content, involve the entire community in their implementation, and serve as a catalyst for other reforms.…

Changes in demographics are having a profound affect on education. Hodgkinson (1997) stated that the United States is the "first world nation in this history of humanity" (p. 3), where every nation in the world has a resident in this country. Former Governor of North Carolina and Chairman of the National Commission on Teaching and…

In 2000, the Arizona Proposition 203 campaign gained overwhelming public approval by claiming that Arizona's bilingual education programs impeded English-language learning of language-minority students. Established within a context of educational and social antipathy, it is necessary to look at the impetus for language policies like Proposition…

In this article, I examine the assimilationist assumptions embedded in the development and implementation of the Texas Reading Proficiency Test in English (RPTE). The RPTE was designed as a developmental bridge for English language learner (ELL) students to perform on the English Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). These assumptions…

In this article, the author proposes that, aside from modified instructional strategies, cultural mediation by secondary teachers on behalf of minority students is the key to school adjustment and academic achievement of language minority students in secondary schools. Cultural mediation can be defined as a process of planned intervention in which…