Eight hundred and ninety-nine (431 male, 467 female and one missing value) Grade 8 and 9 (n = 184 and 713, respectively, with two missing values) learners from secondary schools in Mpumalanga completed a science and mathematics questionnaire. Student's t tests showed that male and female, as well as language groups' scores, differed significantly.…

One of the most important indicators of educational performance is the high school dropout rate. Reducing dropout rates and improving high school graduation rates are important goals for both educators and policymakers. Yet there is a great deal of controversy about how best to measure dropout and graduation rates. This issue of EL Facts provides…

Children who are native speakers of minority languages often experience stagnation or decline in that language when exposed to a majority language in a school or community situation. This paper examines such a situation among the Inuit of arctic Quebec. All 18 participants in the study were native speakers of Inuktitut, living in home environments…

This research reports pupils' perceptions of their quality of school life in primary schools in Northern Ireland, investigated through development and use of a culturally adapted instrument with both experimental (Irish-medium) and control (English-medium) groups. A related issue examined via a second culturally adapted instrument was the pupils'…

Oak View School, Huntington Beach (California) is reflective of demographic changes due to the rapid increase in the number of ethnic minority students. The school has created goals for quality education for immigrant and minority children and is attempting to respond to the needs of its culturally diverse, although largely Hispanic, population.…

Research indicates that nearly all language-minority children and adolescents are language brokers for their parents and other family members. Children from diverse language backgrounds and as young as eight or nine years old perform difficult and demanding linguistic and communication tasks normally done by adults, both related and unrelated to…

As indigenous communities begin to develop language revitalization programs, they inevitably must face the decision of whether to incorporate written forms of their historically oral languages into their efforts. This paper argues that as indigenous people go about the decision-making process, they must be aware of the implications of relying on a…

The focus group method has rapidly gained credibility among researchers in many fields, including public health researchers. The increased use of focus groups by public health researchers has underscored the demonstrable need for the capacity to apply this method of research among populations with limited abilities in or cultural resistance to…

This book examines how in a multicultural, multilingual society, schools must involve parents and community members in literacy teaching and learning. By building on existing literacy, schools can become catalysts in empowering children, families, and teachers. Collaborative literacy teaching and learning can be a positive force in redefining…

This collection of 16 tested ideas for improving teaching and learning evolved from the work of the 1995 Proven Laboratory Practices Task Force charged with identifying and collecting the best and most useful work from the Regional Educational Laboratories. The Regional Educational Laboratory program is the largest research and development…

This report focuses on issues relating to the development and implementation of educational programs for and placement of national origin minority students identified as having limited English proficiency. It examines the present-day barriers that prevent students with limited English proficiency from having an equal opportunity to participate in…

This report was designed for teachers and teacher educators who, in their teaching, curricula, and relationships with students, struggle with fundamental cultural questions: Who are my students? What kinds of cultural influences shape their lives? How do they and I shape and construct this culture on an ongoing basis? and What are my own cultural…

The spring issue focuses on the evolution in the education of language minority students. Rosalie Pedalino Porter's article, "On the State of Bilingual Education 1990-1995: 'Forked Tongue' Continued," highlights the advances made by local school districts where students are being introduced to academic content learning in English at a…

The rapid increase in the number of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students is especially significant in the nation's large urban school districts. The numbers of LEP students in special, bilingual education programs has exploded due to the constant stream of immigrants into the United States and the inability of so many children, even those who…

This study examines the changing role of bilingual education in a Title I elementary school in Northern California in the wake of the passage of Proposition 227. It is found that native language literacy is an important component in the academic success of English language learners and that reading in the native language does not detract form from…