Brown, Ian (1994). Comparing the Best of Both Worlds: Cultures through Art. Art Education, v47 n1 p61-67 Jan. Contends that differences in child development and cultural backgrounds affect the way children represent their world through art. Describes an exhibit of children's art from Thailand and Australia. Discusses differences in content, media, and style and concludes that both cultures could benefit from adopting aspects of the other. (CFR)…

Hoover, Mary Rhodes (1990). A Vindicationist Perspective on the Role of Ebonics (Black Language) and Other Aspects of Ethnic Studies in the University. American Behavioral Scientist, v34 n2 p251-62 Nov-Dec. Argues that education's current "deficiency" philosophy supports a negative view of the cultures of people of color, negatively affecting educational policies and the direction of research. Advocates the "vindicationist philosophy," which considers Blacks equally capable of academic achievement. Specifically recommends how to instill the vindicationist perspective through faculty workshops. (NL)…

Harry, Beth; And Others (1993). Crossing Social Class and Cultural Barriers in Working with Families: Implications for Teacher Training. Teaching Exceptional Children, v26 n1 p48-51 Fall. This article describes a preservice special education teacher education course at the University of Maryland which requires students to interact directly with parents of different social classes and cultural backgrounds. Three students recount their experiences and changed attitudes as a result of this requirement. (DB)…

Fentress, Debbie (1993). Educating Special Citizens. Social Studies, v84 n5 p218-23 Sep-Oct. Describes programs and activities of the Close Up Foundation for special needs students. Explains how the experiential citizenship education activities are adapted for hearing impaired, visually impaired, recent immigrant, Native American, Alaskan Native, Puerto Rican, and Pacific Island nation students. Includes two classrom activities used in the program. (CFR)…

Throd, Mary A.; Wenzlaff, Terri L. (1995). The Role of Teachers in a Cross-cultural Drama. Journal of Teacher Education, v46 n5 p334-39 Nov-Dec. Examines why there are so few Native American teachers in this country, specifically in the upper Midwest. Describes how one institution has increased the number of native teachers and notes student reactions to assimilation at a traditional, largely white university. Proposes an eight-hour workshop on diversity training for faculty. (SM)…

Carfagna, Rosemarie (1996). The Ursuline College Experience: Promoting Ethnic Diversity and Social Justice. Interdisciplinary Humanities, v13 n1 p35-39 Win. Highlights the interdisciplinary, multicultural courses at Ursuline College (Ohio) that fulfill their commitment to promoting ethnic diversity and social justice. The courses include "Those Fabulous (?) 60's"; "Women, Doers of Justice"; and an examination of key cities during historical periods. Discusses the courses' integration into the general curriculum. (MJP)…

Vieler-Porter, Chris (2001). Futures Thinking: Consideration of the Impact of Educational Change on Black and Minority Ethnic Achievement. MCT, v19 n3 p12-14,18 Sum. Discusses the potential of information and communications technology (ICT) and the World Wide Web to offer positive alternatives in contemporary British schools that are failing their black and minority group students. Describes the advantages of ICT and looks at future changes in the teaching profession and changes in the curriculum that will require knowledge of ICT. (SM)…

Holloway, Jonathan Scott (2004). Ralph Bunche and the Responsibilities of the Public Intellectual. Journal of Negro Education, v73 n2 p125-136 Spr. Drawing from the authoritative sources on Ralph Bunche's early years in the academy, his personal papers, and his publications from the 1930s, this essay discusses Bunche's political philosophies and how they were informed by the social realities of the world in which he and other Black scholars lived. This essay urges readers to look beyond his important international work in the second half of his career to his earlier years when he repeatedly challenged public and private orthodoxies in service of a larger ideal of a broad and universal humanity…. [PDF]

(1992). Public Education in Idaho: Does It Meet the Needs of All Students? A Summary Report. This report is based on a community forum convened on May 15, 1991, in Twin Falls, Idaho, to obtain information and views on public education in Idaho; its impact on minorities; and, specifically, the high dropout rate of Hispanics, its causes, and possible solutions. Chapter 1 gives the background of a 1979 lawsuit filed by the Idaho Migrant Council against the Idaho State Board of Education. The lawsuit was settled in 1983 when the defendant agreed to implement plans to meet the needs of students with limited English proficiency. However, the state advisory committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights continued to receive complaints alleging a lack of such educational programs. Demographics show that Hispanics are the largest non-White group in Idaho. Chapter 2 consists of summaries of forum presentations by the state superintendent of instruction, local superintendents, principals, teachers, university staff, corporate education and training experts, the director of education… [PDF]

Goulet, Linda (1998). Culturally Relevant Teacher Education: A Saskatchewan First Nations Case. This paper examines culturally relevant teacher education for First Nations undergraduate students, offered by the Department of Indian Education at the University of Regina-affiliated Saskatchewan Indian Federated College. As graduates may want to challenge dominant epistemologies of the schools in which they teach, the program responds to students' needs for connection to traditional cultural knowledge in order to overcome personal and cultural dislocation and racism. All students take classes in Indian languages, studies, and art. In a class affirming cultural identity, Elders are used as teachers in an outdoor education setting that includes ceremonies, traditional activities, and storytelling. Tools to deconstruct racist ideology and practices are given in a third-year class in human justice that focuses on institutional racism, particularly on an analysis of curriculum. The concepts of race, text, identity, stereotyping, bias, and ethnocentrism are used to analyze the impact… [PDF]

Peterson, Robert (1992). Teachers and Parents: The Milwaukee Experience. This booklet tells of the 1987 struggle teachers and parents of a racially-integrated, working-class neighborhood of Milwaukee faced when the central administration of the Milwaukee Public Schools announced the closing of the neighborhood school. Parents and teachers dreamed of a decent school that children would want to attend, in an integrated neighborhood, teaching children to be bilingual in Spanish and English, using cooperative and innovative methods, governed by a council of parents and teachers. La Escuela Fratney grew from the tradition of a long history of progressivism in Wisconsin. The struggles for Fratney School are recounted with both its successes and challenges that lie ahead. (EH)…

Mullen, Carol A. (1997). Hearing the Voices of Hispanic Preservice Teachers: An Inside-Out Reform of Teacher Education. This study of cultural self-identity is based on stories of mentorship drawn from a 6-month study of 11 female Hispanic preservice teachers enrolled in degree programs at Texas A&M University. These students were interviewed about mentoring influences that contributed to their decision to become teachers, about sponsorship and assistance personally available on campus, and about the various mentoring contexts they encountered, organizations to which they belonged, and the nature of their own work. Notably, participants stressed professional development in the context of parental and family support. They articulated needs in the following areas of professional development: interaction among diverse cultures within campus communities; an official bilingual education program at the undergraduate level; opportunity to talk about issues related to teaching within Hispanic and non-Hispanic (culturally-mixed) organizations; leadership training within Hispanic mentoring organizations; a… [PDF]

Slayton, Tamara (1994). Mexican Education: An Analysis. Fulbright-Hays Summer Seminar Abroad Project. This study addresses the basic question: What are the factors that influence the academic experience of Mexican children, and, to what extent do these factors result in deficits in student learning and achievement? The study was conducted over the course of 5 weeks throughout Mexico in the regions of Juarez, Chihuahua, Michoacan, Mexico, D.F., Veracruz, Oaxaca, and Merida. Data were collected by means of personal observations, visitations, interviews, and lectures by and with sociologists, economists, social workers, public administrators, educators, curriculum specialists, and other knowledgeable professionals. Findings include: (1) Mexico has a high illiteracy rate, despite the free, compulsory nature of education in Mexico; (2) socioeconomic issues influence the availability and quality of education received; (3) cultural and social isolation of indigenous people is another component that significantly impacts the schooling of Mexican children; and (4) the economic and political… [PDF]

Sharpes, Donald K. (1983). Developing International Understanding in Teacher Education. Major social science concepts that have an impact on a study of teacher education in developing nations are discussed. The relationship between national progress and teacher education is considered, and economic, political, and social realities facing these nations are pointed out. Among those discussed are: (1) economic problems of high population gains; (2) increasing demands for child labor; (3) the problem of school-age populations outstripping teacher education resources; (4) school involvement in training for rural development and improvement of production and the environment; (5) development of universal literacy and numeracy; (6) education as a social good; (7) social class values and attitudes; (8) social differences between the educated and the illiterate; and (9) national attitudes toward educating teachers. It is argued that American colleges and universities have a responsibility to produce teachers who are aware of the people and problems of the developing world, as… [PDF]

Welch, Richard O. (1977). Academic Achievement of Mexican American Students: The Edgewood School Plan. A five-year bilingual, bicultural program, part of the Experimental Schools Program, employed by the Edgewood Independent School District, San Antonio, Texas, was designed to enhance the affective characteristics of the predominantly Mexican American student population, to train teachers to avoid socioeconomic and cultural biases, and to improve the academic achievement of the students. Measurement of the program impact was conducted yearly in language, mathematics, science, social studies, reading, and study skills through a quasi-experimental research design, wherein the treatment schools were matched with comparison schools where students had similar socioeconomic status, affective characteristics, and standardized test achievement scores. Annual comparison scores were collected from both groups over a four-year period, with some significantly higher scores in the treatment groups attributed to particular subjects and grades where treatments were employed. However, the general…

Bernal, Ernesto M. (2002). Three Ways To Achieve a More Equitable Representation of Culturally and Linguistically Different Students in GT Programs. Roeper Review, v24 n2 p82-88 Win. This article posits that increasing minority teachers in gifted and talented (GT) programs will lead to an increase of minority students in GT programs. Ways to recruit and prepare minority teachers are discussed, as are multicultural and bilingual options for GT programs. The need for evaluation data is stressed. (Contains references.) (CR)…

Westley, David (1992). Language and Education in Africa: A Select Bibliography, 1980-1990. Comparative Education Review, v36 n3 p355-67 Aug. Presents a bibliography of approximately 130 books, journal articles, dissertations, and UNESCO reports (in English and French) about language usage and policies in education in subsaharan Africa. Most items were published in the 1980s. Examines the complexities and politics of language in South Africa, Nigeria, and Tanzania. (SV)…

Reynolds, Gretchen (1998). Welcoming Place: An Urban Community of Inuit Families. Canadian Children, v23 n1 p5-11 Spr. Describes a visit by an early childhood educator to the Tungasuvvingat Inuit Head Start Program in Ottawa. Explains how this program, funded by Health Canada under the Aboriginal Head Start Initiative, emphasizes retention of the Inuit culture and language in its curriculum activities and materials, special events, daily routines, parent education and resources, and staffing. (TJQ)…

Garcia, Georgia Earnest (1992). The Literacy Assessment of Second-Language Learners. The first part of this report reviews the different types of formal assessment measures that have been used to evaluate the language and literacy performance of second-language learners of English in the United States, including language proficiency tests, reading readiness tests, standardized reading tests, basal reading tests, and statewide reading tests. The second part of the report explains informal assessment and describes the various types of classroom activities that teachers can use to evaluate and facilitate the literacy development of second-language students in both bilingual and non-bilingual settings. Activities presented include classroom observation, oral miscue analysis, story retellings, tape recordings of oral reading, reading logs, reading response logs, think-alouds, writing folders, and student-teacher conferences. The report concludes by noting some of the limitations of informal assessment and by pointing out that an informal assessment program can provide… [PDF]

Hofmeister, Alan; Thorkildsen, Ron (1983). The Application of Videodisc Technology to the Diagnosis of Math Skills. Briefly presented are the rationale and procedures used to develop and validate an interactive videodisc program to assist in diagnosing difficulties in mathematics in grades 1-3. The mathematics assessment program is described as 408 criterion-referenced items divided into seven strands. Questions are administered until a student makes three consecutive errors; then the student is branched to the next section in a strand. At the teacher's option, the test can be administered in either English or Spanish. Information is also included on equipment configurations possible among videodisc players, microcomputers, touch screens, and printers, and disc capacity is noted. Finally, comments on formative evaluation needs are given. (MNS)… [PDF]

Day, Elaine M.; Shapson, Stan M. (1983). Evaluation Studies of Bilingual Programs in Canada. A synthesis of two evaluation studies is presented. The first study describes an early immersion school-based program in the province of British Columbia conducted on a longitudinal basis from kindergarten to grade 7, and sponsored by parents to extend their children's school-based bilingual experience. The longitudinal study of the early immersion program examined the effects of the program on children's performance in English language arts and mathematics, French language skills, and attitudes toward French language and culture. Comparisons were made with students in the regular English program and with those in other types of French second language programs. The second study involves a bilingual exchange program for grade 7 early immersion students which had two aspects: a cultural-lecture component on various aspects of French-Canadian culture given during the year, and a 2-week visit to the province of Quebec during which the early immersion students studied with French…

Berney, Tomi D.; Stern, Lucia (1990). Eligibility and Programming in Chapter I English as a Second Language (E.S.L.) Programs, 1988-89. OREA Report. Chapter I/Pupils with Compensatory Educational Needs programs in English as a Second Language (ESL) served students at 78 high schools in New York City, supplementing tax-levy-funded ESL classes in those schools serving limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. Chapter I of the Educational Consolidation and Improvement Act funded ESL and bilingual classes, bilingual guidance counselors, and paraprofessionals. Three program models were provided, each for a different type of high school, with specific formulas for allocation of funds at different instructional levels. Evaluation was conducted through interviews, data collection, and observation. Each participating school had diverse problems requiring different Chapter I programs, including native language illiteracy, increases in the number of immigrant students unprepared for the high school curriculum, social and economic difficulties facing new immigrant students, and large classes. In some cases, the constant influx of new… [PDF]

Garcia, Delia C. (1990). Creating Parental Involvement: A Manual for School Children and Parents Interacting Program. The Children and Parents Interacting program is a federally funded Title VII project designed to create and promote greater Hispanic parent involvement in the educational system. The program represents a joint effort of Monroe and Dade County Public Schools and Florida International University's Center for Latino Education. The major thrust of the program is to involve Hispanic parents and children in parent-child training sessions, with specific activities designed to improve the students' academic achievement and English language proficiency. This guide for school personnel in the program is comprised of the following sections: (1) program description; (2) definition of parent involvement; (3) history of parent involvement; (4) discussion of the need for parent involvement; (5) factors influencing Hispanic parent involvement; (6) parenting in the Hispanic home; (7) common problems and solutions in interacting with parents; (8) strategies for promoting Hispanic parent involvement,…

(1986). Walton High School: Project BLAST, 1985-1986. OEA Evaluation Report. In 1985-86, Project BLAST (Bilingual Language Arts Survival Training), in its third and final year of funding at Walton High School (Bronx, New York), achieved an attendance rate of 95 percent. Project BLAST provided 200 students of limited English proficiency (LEP) with instruction in: (1) English as a second language (ESL) and native language arts; and (2) bilingual instruction in social studies, mathematics, and science. Special features of the program were its career exploration, survival skills, and citizenship training components. The project also developed two new instructional components in 1985-86: a computer lab and an advanced placement native language arts class. Project BLAST's success was attributed to the high quality of teaching, the dedication of the project's staff, the small size of the program, and the effective use of the project's paraprofessionals and the bilingual family associate. Much time was also spent in counseling individual students. This assessment…

Wright, Carey E.; And Others (1986). Cultural and Vocational Attitudes: Hispanic Girls in South Chicago. Twenty-five freshman Hispanic girls at Bowen High School in Chicago were motivated and encouraged to continue their education and explore various career goals. Methodology involved a highly personal interaction with the program worker. Three groups were formed–two were conducted in English and one was conducted in Spanish. Project goals were to educate the students about vocational possibilities, available training resources, sexuality, and drugs and their effects; explore and challenge their attitudes and fears regarding vocation, sex, culture, and independence; clarify and increase commitment to educational goals; involve parents in their children's vocational goals; and provide expert, appropriate referral to adolescents experiencing serious problems. A holistic, replicable approach to vocational education and motivation for inner-city, bicultural teenage girls was to be developed. Research data on "positive significant changes" were inconclusive over the seven-month… [PDF]

(1986). DeWitt Clinton High School Project BISECT 1984-1985. OEA Evaluation Report. Project Bilingual Spanish-to-English Career Training (BISECT), in its third and least year of funding, offered bilingual instruction, career awareness development, and supportive services to 301 Hispanic students of limited English proficiency at DeWitt Clinton High School. While all students spoke Spanish at home, their Spanish language ability and proficiency in English varied, as did their overall academic preparedness. The ultimate goal was to improve students' English language skills and to assist them in identifying career interest areas. The instructional approach was bilingual: social studies classes were taught by English-speaking teachers assisted by bilingual paraprofessionals. Supportive services included vocational guidance and academic counseling, home visits, career awareness activities, visits to educational and cultural sites, and a program newsletter. The following evaluation findings are presented for the 1984-85 academic year: (1) English as a second language…

(1986). Project COPE 1984-1985. OEA Evaluation Report. Project COPE, in its second year of funding, offered basic skills instruction, career development, and pre-occupational training to 343 students of limited English proficiency in grades 9 through 12 at three sites in New York City. The students varied in native language skills, proficiency in English, and overall academic preparedness. The project's main goal was to provide supportive services to limited English proficient students who were also limited in their ability to read and write in their native languages. The evaluation findings for the 1984-85 academic year include the results of student performance on standardized and teacher-made tests, an examination of program materials and records, site visits, and interviews with program personnel. Objectives were met in English language development and student attendance. Data on native language development arts were not provided and the objective could not be assessed. Staff turnover and conflicts with other duties, and lack of…

Fox, Frank; And Others (1986). The Multilingual Preschool Parent Participation Project of the Sacramento City Unified School District. Summary of the Final Evaluation Report. This paper summarizes the five year period (1980-1985) of the Sacramento City Unified School District Parent Participation Preschool and Children's Centers. The program provided multilingual education to preschool children and their limited-English-speaking parents. Children were enrolled in existing Head Start and State Preschool programs, and they received extra services. Parents were give home teaching kits for reinforcement of classroom lessons and for dissemination of information about community resources. The first phase of the program served speakers of Chinese, Vietnamese, and Spanish; the second phase added Hmong and Laotian services. Evaluation of the program by parents and teachers was very favorable. Recommendations for continuation of the program include the following: (1) more clearly articulated goals and objectives; (2) a longitudinal evaluation plan; (3) replicability of the model; (4) alternative funding sources from within and outside of the district; and (5)…

Chang, Agnes Shook Cheong (1986). The Relationship between the Learning of English and the Learning of a 'Second Language' in Pre-Schoolers. Are young children able to become competent in two languages simultaneously? In an attempt to answer this question, Singaporean Chinese, Malay, and Indian children of 3.5 through 6 years of age who attended six different types of preschool centers were grouped into age bands separated by an interval of 6 months and were given four English tests and two "second language" tests of Chinese (Mandarin), Malay, or Tamil. Language-related abilities assessed were auditory discrimination, concept of print, word knowledge, verbal fluency in English, and word knowledge and verbal fluency in the three second languages. Results are discussed in three sections comparing age and interval data, two contrasting types of preschool centers, and children in the three ethnic groups. Findings indicated that the younger preschoolers had difficulties in simultaneously learning English and a second language. Analysis of data from both private and nonprivate centers showed that the level of…

Jacobson, Rodolfo (1983). Intersentential Codeswitching: An Educationally Justifiable Strategy. The language separation approach to bilingual teaching is compared to three kinds of language alternation approaches, \flipflopping,\\concurrent translation,\ and the \New Concurrent Approach\ (NCA). The approaches are categorized as conventional, unstructured, and structured, respectively. The effectiveness of the NCA is compared favorably to the other approaches in terms of San Antonio's Title VII demonstration project in bilingual methodology. Five NCA class segments are analyzed with special emphasis on description of corpus, teacher talk, and student talk. Transcriptions of teacher-student dialogs are included. The discussion stresses that through sufficiently long speech samples in each language the child develops the languages simultaneously. This is demonstrated by the grammaticality of almost all child responses. Furthermore, children have developed interlinguistic flexibility as they alternate between languages with ease. It is concluded that the reservations held by many…