Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence

Many schools across the nation are facing the challenge of educating students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds who have limited English proficiency. This paper examines four exemplary elementary schools that have successfully implemented language development programs for limited English proficient (LEP) students as part of a schoolwide restructuring effort. These exemplary schools--in California, Texas, and Illinois-- were selected on the basis of a national nomination process. All have nontraditional school organizations, a well-developed language acquisition program for LEP students, and high-quality language arts curricula. The analysis presented here synthesizes data about the four schools gathered from telephone interviews and on-site interviews with teachers, principals, and district staff. Research staff also conducted focus groups with students and parents and observed instruction in selected classrooms.

Although each school takes an individual approach to language acquisition and development, they share the following elements: (a) They have changed the organization of the school in ways that support improved teaching and learning for all students, including LEP students; (b) they have adapted their programs for LEP students in response to their students' needs; (c) they have provided LEP students access to challenging content; (d) they have engaged LEP students with their English-only peers; (e) they have implemented innovative curricular strategies including whole language, literature-based curriculum, and thematic, integrated curriculum; and (f) they have implemented innovative instructional strategies including cooperative learning, active learning, and experiential instructional strategies.

In undertaking a process of education reform, these schools have been able to tailor their programs to meet the needs of their students. They have instituted innovative organizational structures that have specific pedagogical benefits for LEP students while at the same time creating a mission and vision for the school that embraces all students.

This article presents findings from the School Reform and Student Diversity Study, a 4-year project to locate and analyze schools offering exemplary science and mathematics programs to middle school students with limited proficiency in English. In contrast to the vast majority of schools, the four schools described in this article give these students access to stimulating science and mathematics curricula by instructing them either in the students' primary language or in English using sheltered techniques. These schools have overcome the usual barriers to including students with limited English proficiency (LEP) in grade level science and mathematics courses, particularly the belief of many teachers and administrators that fluency in English is a prerequisite to learning other academic subjects.

How have these schools been able to offer innovative science and mathematics programs to students who are not yet proficient in English? First, these programs were manifestations of larger national and state level efforts to improve science and mathematics instruction. External partners connected the schools to these larger reform efforts and aided teachers in developing thematic instruction, providing hands-on experiential learning opportunities, and fostering students' construction of meaning. Second, the exemplary science and mathematics programs took place in a broader context of school restructuring, such as school-based decision making in regard to allocation of resources, creation of smaller school units for learning, innovative uses of time that protected and extended LEP students' time to learn, and teacher collaboration. Finally, well-conceived and well-implemented language development programs for LEP students were crucial to the programs' success. The availability of qualified faculty, the creation of multiple-program pathways for transition to English, and support for transitioning students to all-English instruction provided the foundation for giving LEP students access to innovative science and mathematics programs.

This report explores the ways in which instructional conversations between a teacher and her students contributed to building an academic community in a transitional bilingual fourth-grade classroom. Through an analysis of reading lesson transcripts, classroom events, and student essays and journal assignments, this report shows how classroom experiences fostered the development of students' understanding of the concepts of sacrifice and responsibility. This report describes how, at both the individual and classroom community level, instructional conversations deepened student understandings of the texts they read in class by encouraging students to make connections between particular textual concepts and their own experiences. In addition to tracking student gains in understanding, this report shows how the conversations helped build a classroom community that incorporated the cultural beliefs and concerns of the students.

More than one fifth of American school-age children come from families in which languages other than English are spoken (McDonnell & Hill, 1993). Many children from such families are limited in their English proficiency. During the last decade, the number of school children with limited proficiency in English grew two and a half times faster than regular school enrollment (August & Hakuta, 1993). Given these changes in classroom demographics, it is imperative that all teachers have knowledge about second language development and instructional strategies for developing language proficiency.

This report sets down some guidelines for teaching these children. It summarizes principles and practices that can be derived from current thinking and research in the field of second language acquisition and culturally sensitive instruction.

Among the most interesting and effective innovations in second language education during the last three decades have been the immersion programs developed in Canada. The first immersion programs were developed to provide Canada's majority-group English-speaking students with opportunities to learn Canada's other official language. Since that time, immersion programs have been adopted in many different areas of North America, and alternative forms of immersion have been devised.

This report presents a selective review of research findings from the extensive evaluations that have been undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of immersion programs in Canada and the United States. It focuses on selected aspects of second language learning and discusses implications of immersion research findings for the design and development of second language programs in other school settings for other kinds of learners: for example, for students learning through other forms of content-based instruction and limited-English-proficient students.

The intent of this review is not to advocate immersion for all second language learners but to learn from the experiences and research findings in immersion for majority language learners. The lessons to be learned from immersion are related to the importance of (1) integrating language with content instruction, (2) classrooms that are discourse-rich, and (3) systematic planning of language along with content instruction.

The goal of this report is to show how low-income Mexican-American and European-American children's and adolescents' everyday learning activities in the home and parents' aspirations for their children's future are key elements in home-school linkages. After reviewing two models of home-school linkages, we apply the ecocultural approach to analyzing third-,fifth-, and seventh-grade students' participation in chore and homework activities and their parents' aspirations for their personal/moral, educational, and vocational future. Drawing on interviews with these students' parents, we illustrate personnel (parents, siblings, relatives, friends) available to guide children's and adolescents' mastery of homework and chores, parents' direct and indirect instructional scripts, and how parents' future goals and aspirations might shape their present goals and guidance. In reporting our findings, we pay special attention to 1) similarities and differences between the ecology of learning, resources, and vulnerabilities of Mexican-American and European-American families, 2) within-cultural-group variation in families' resources and vulnerabilities, and 3) how families' resources and vulnerabilities, guidance scripts, and aspirations change as children enter adolescence. We conclude with suggestions for how to apply our findings to the design of parent-school partnerships.

In a growing number of schools in the United States, students are learning through two languages in programs that aim to develop dual language proficiency along with academic achievement. These two-way bilingual programs integrate language minority and language majority students and provide content area instruction and language development in two languages.

A study of over 160 schools between 1991 and 1994 provides a picture of the current state of two-way bilingual education in the United States. Two-way programs typically share the goals of bilingual proficiency, academic achievement, and positive cross-cultural attitudes and behaviors, but they vary a good deal in the approaches and strategies they use to work toward those goals. A host of local factors affect such issues as student enrollment, program features and design, and instructional features.

Emerging results of studies of two-way bilingual programs point to their effectiveness in educating nonnative-English-speaking students, their promise of expanding our nation's language resources by conserving the native language skills of minority students and developing second language skills in English-speaking students, and their hope of improving relationships between majority and minority groups by enhancing cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.

Instructional conversation (IC) is a dialog between teacher and learner in which prior knowledge and experiences are woven together with new material to build higher understanding. IC contrasts with the "recitation script" of traditional western schooling, which is highly routinized and dominated by the teacher. IC varies in form in different cultures, as do other discourse forms. Analysis of the research on the formal and informal learning of American Indians lends insight into possible ways in which instructional conversations in classrooms with these children can be modified to promote learning. Effective instructional conversations for Native Americans are influenced by four basic psychocultural factors identified by Tharp (1989): a) sociolinguistics; b) motivation; c) cognition; and d) social organization. These factors are implicated in activity settings that are more likely to produce effective ICs in Native American classrooms. "Ideal" activity settings--those most likely to produce and maintain ICs for Native American students are proposed and illustrated.

This paper reports on a project aimed at improving academic achievement at a predominantly Latino elementary school in the metropolitan Los Angeles area. Project activities were guided by a school change model that helped provide a coherent, sustained focus over a period of several years. The model suggests four elements that can be used to produce changes in teaching and learning: goals that are set and shared; indicators that measure success; assistance by capable others; and leadership that supports and pressures. Administration and faculty at the school, aided by UCLA researchers, made substantial improvements in teacher expectations, teaching, school climate, and student achievement.

This report describes preliminary findings from a study examining school American history classes with English language learners. The study has investigated the construction of social studies knowledge in these and the development and implementation of lessons that address the and educational backgrounds of the learners while integrating language content, and culture objectives. After briefly describing some features studies language, revealed through analyses of classroom discourse books, this report focuses on the implementation of several lessons project-developed unit, "Protest and the American Revolution." Attention is paid to teacher accommodations, student oral and written participation, infusion of multicultural issue and perspectives.