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The Institute for Research in English Acquisition and Development




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Educating Language Minority Children
READ Perspectives
Fall 1999, Vol. VI
Rosalie Pedalino Porter, Editor

Improving Capacity and Educational Accountability in Schools Serving English Language Learners
By Diane August
Mystery on the Bilingual Express: A Critique of the Thomas and Collier Study "School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students"
By Christine H. Rossell
The Labor Market Effects of Bilingual Education
By Mark Hugo Lopez and Marie T. Mora
El Paso Programs for English Language Learners: A Follow Up Study
By RosaliePedalino Porter
Reflections of a Bilingual Educator: From Past to Present
By Mary T. Cazabon
Bethlehem, Pennsilvania's English Acquisition Program
By Dr. Thomas J. Doluisio
Restructuring Schools to Incorporate Linguistically Diverse Populations
By Maria Estela Brisk
Keynote Address
By Richard M. Estrada
A Bilingual Supporter Calls for Reform
By Charles Glenn
A State Legislator's View on Bilngual Education Reform
By Harold Lane
Reflections of a School Superintendent--Quincy, Massachusetts
By Eugene Creedon
Chelsea Superintendent Urges More Flexibility in State Bilingual Law
By Douglas Sears


TEACHING ENGLISH WINS:
AN ANALYSIS OF CALIFORNIA TEST SCORES AFTER PROPOSITION 227

Despite all of the rhetoric decrying how California's non-English-speaking students would be harmed by the new English-immersion mandate, the end result is good news. After only seven months of instruction, LEP students were not only not harmed by English immersion; they made significant gains in reading and writing in English as well as math. Not surprisingly, the greatest gains were made in school districts that chose the strictest interpretation of the initiative and implemented the most intensive English-immersion programs.


CONFUSION AND OBFUSCATION: THE NEW CALIFORNIA GUIDELINES FOR PROPOSITION 227
In August 1999, more than a year after voters approved Proposition 227, the California Department of Education (CDE) finally issued its revised State Program for English Learners Coordinated Compliance Review Training Guide 2000-2001. The reason CDE officials took so long to offer school districts this guidance is obvious: they were hoping that the courts would overturn the ballot initiative. The guidelines themselves are a transparent attempt to reduce the impact of Proposition 227, which eliminated the CDE's favored bilingual education programs and replaced them with structured English immersion for language-minority students.


From Primary Language Instruction to English Immersion:
How Five California Districts Made the Switch

By Kevin Clark, June 1999.
The five school districts examined in this report took the concept of immersion language teaching and turned it into a practical educational model for teaching today's Limited-English Proficient students. Readers will benefit from Mr. Clark's evaluation of the districts and his data on student achievement.


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