How do we effectively teach children from homes in which a language other than English is spoken? In Improving Schooling for Language-Minority Children, a committee of experts focuses on this central question, striving toward the construction of a strong and credible knowledge base to inform the activities of those who educate children as well as those who fund and conduct research. The book reviews a broad range of studies--from basic ones on language, literacy, and learning to others in educational settings. The committee proposes a research agenda that responds to issues of policy and practice yet maintains scientific integrity. This comprehensive volume provides perspective on the history of bilingual education in the United States; summarizes relevant research on development of a second language, literacy, and content knowledge; reviews past evaluation studies; explores what we know about effective schools and classrooms for these children; examines research on the education of teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse students; critically reviews the system for the collection of education statistics as it relates to this student population; and recommends changes in the infrastructure that supports research on these students.

In the past 30 years, a large and growing number of students in U.S. schools have come from homes in which the language background is other than English. These students present unique challenges for America's education system. Based on Improving Schooling for Language-Minority Children, a comprehensive study published in 1997, this book summarizes for teachers and education policymakers what has been learned over the past three decades about educating such students. It discusses a broad range of educational issues: how students learn a second language; how reading and writing skills develop in the first and second languages; how information on specific subjects (for example, biology) is stored and learned and the implications for second-language learners; how social and motivational factors affect learning for English-language learners; how the English proficiency and subject matter knowledge of English-language learners are assessed; and what is known about the attributes of effective schools and classrooms that serve English-language learners.

How do we effectively teach children from homes in which a language other than English is spoken? In Improving Schooling for Language-Minority Children, a committee of experts focuses on this central question, striving toward the construction of a strong and credible knowledge base to inform the activities of those who educate children as well as those who fund and conduct research. The book reviews a broad range of studiesâ€"from basic ones on language, literacy, and learning to others in educational settings. The committee proposes a research agenda that responds to issues of policy and practice yet maintains scientific integrity. This comprehensive volume provides perspective on the history of bilingual education in the United States; summarizes relevant research on development of a second language, literacy, and content knowledge; reviews past evaluation studies; explores what we know about effective schools and classrooms for these children; examines research on the education of teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse students; critically reviews the system for the collection of education statistics as it relates to this student population; and recommends changes in the infrastructure that supports research on these students.

READ Perspectives, a refereed annual publication of the Institute for Research in English Acquisition and Development (READ), Washington, D.C., begins its sixth year with the theme "Educating Language Minority Children: An Agenda for the Future." Volume 6 features presentations from a Boston University conference organized by READ and the Pioneer Institute. The essays represent truly diverse viewpoints on the education of limited-English students, rare in the complex and contentious arena of bilingual education. The lead article, "Rethinking Bilingual Education," by Charles L Glenn of Boston University, inspired the conference's organization. Dr. Glenn proposes new ways of schooling limited-English-speaking children that depart dramatically from the practices of the past 30 years. He proposes sound recommendations for revising Massachusetts bilingual education law, ideas that could well be applied in other states. Also included are Christine Rossell's "Mystery on the Bilingual Express," a critique of the controversial study by Thomas and Collier; Rosalie Pedalino Porter's follow-up review of El Paso, Texas's programs for English learners; Mark Lopez's "Labor Market Effects of Bilingual Education"; "Bethlehem, Pennsylvania's English Acquisition Program," by Thomas J. Dolusio; Maria Estela Brisk's discussion on the need to restructure schools to incorporate the large non-English student population; several articles regarding educational reform in Massachusetts, including two by school superintendents Eugene Creedon and Douglas Sears, and one by Harold Lane, Chairman of the Joint Education Committee in the Massachusetts Legislature; and, finally, Kevin Clark's "From Primary Language Instruction to English Immersion: How Five California Districts Made the Switch." Kevin Clark's California study "From Primary Language Instruction to English Immersion: How Five California Districts Made the Switch," describes how radical changes are being carried out in a few representative school districts since passage of California Proposition 227, the "English for the Children" initiative. Educating Language Minority Children is a valuable selection of the most current thinking on policies, programs, and practices affecting limited-English students in U.S. public schools. It provides a wealth of practical information useful to educators, parents, legislators, and policy analysts, and is an essential addition to libraries nationwide.

Reporting the findings of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth, this book concisely summarises what is known from empirical research about the development of literacy in language-minority children and youth, including development, environment, instruction, and assessment.

A collection of papers discusses the importance of bilingual education's goals of high-level English proficiency, appropriate cognitive/academic development, and adequate psychosocial and cultural adjustment for language-minority students and describes various instructional strategies to achieve those outcomes. The papers include: "The Role of Primary Language Development in Promoting Educational Success for Language Minority Students" (James Cummins); "Bilingual Education and Second Language Acquisition Theory" (Stephen D. Krashen); "Effective Use of the Primary Language in the Classroom" (Dorothy Legarreta-Marcaida); "The Natural Approach in Bilingual Education" (Tracy D. Terrell); and "Reading Instruction for Language Minority Students" (Eleanor W. Thonis). A bilingual education program quality review instrument for kindergarten through grade six and a glossary are appended. (MSE)