Lists 30 resources that provide essential background information, research findings, examples from the field, and recommendations for practice for teachers of students who speak Ebonics. (SLD)

Describes research in which 28 black parents and community people were polled as to their attitudes toward vernacular and standard Black English. Attitudes were assessed in four domains--school, home, community and playground--and in four channels--reading, speaking, writing and listening. Standard Black English was preferred in all domains and…

Four different treatments were used over a period of five months in this experiment concerning the teaching of reading skills to 35 black kindergarten children. The treatments were: (1) spelling patterns/phonic approach using black standard English, (2) a sight approach using black standard English, (3) a sight approach utilizing black nonstandard…

It is unlikely that reading tests written in standard English can measure the verbal ability of nonstandard speakers. Phonological, syntactic, and lexical biases disproportionately place certain groups at a disadvantage and reinforce undesirable attitudes concerning language varieties. This can be remedied only when the society rids itself of…

The assessment of teacher attitudes toward nonstandard dialects in the classroom is the major focus of this research. A Black English attitudes test was developed consisting of the "Black English Speech Varieties Attitude Test" and the "Black English Teacher Attitude Scale." The speech varieties test measures attitudes toward standard and…

The Black English tests for students attempt to provide a complete picture of a Black child's language proficiency, including the child's relative proficiency in the standard and vernaculary forms of speech. Three different tests, which can be taken separately, are included in this manual. The "Discrimination Test" measures the ability to…

The experiment reported on in this paper investigated primarily the overall effectiveness in raising the language achievement of black children of the pattern practice approach and the use of overall contrasts between standard and nonstandard dialects within the pattern practice approach. The experiment was conducted in three third-grade and three…

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…

The main purpose of this study is to measure the attitudes of teachers toward speech varieties used by speakers of Black English and to determine whether there is any evidence that those attitudes are linked to pupils' classroom performance in reading. Also investigating is whether exposure to information about and experience with varieties of…