Koreans have been successful in nesting their educational achievement in places like China, where they have earned the title of the "model minority", due primarily to their educational success. Drawing on data from ethnographic research on fourth-grade Korean students in a bilingual Korean school, this article examines the relationship…

How do teachers define literacy, and how do their perceptions influence their approach to the teaching and learning of literacy? These and other questions relating to literacy generally formed the focus of this ethnographic case study in two urban public primary schools in Ghana. The paper also considers teachers' views on mother tongue literacy.…

Early education programs in the United States are experiencing an increase in the number of English learners and, consequently, an increase in dual-language programs that best serve the needs of these children. Dual-language programs enable children to communicate orally and in written forms in both their native languages and in English. This…

This review synthesizes research on English reading outcomes of all types of programs for Spanish-dominant ELLs in elementary school. It is divided into two major sections: the effect of language of instruction on achievement (i.e., bilingual vs. English-only instruction) and effective reading approaches for ELLs other than the use of native…

The focus of this research is to compare the motivational orientation of English Learners in a Dual Language Immersion and a Transitional Bilingual Education program. These programs were chosen for several reasons. First, comparative studies on the various variables and constructs relating to English Learners in these two instructional models are…

Rising immigration in the United States has been accompanied by growth in the number of children from homes where a language other than English is spoken. Of utmost national concern is to provide the best possible program models and educational opportunities to address the diverse needs of this growing group of students. This article provides an…

Background/Context: This article explores the experiences of one Mexican American family as they make a key curriculum choice for their 9-year-old son. Relatively little attention has been paid to parents' beliefs, attitudes, and, in particular, experiences as they actively engage in--and sometimes affect--their children's schooling. Parents'…

Research investigating the cognitive effect of bilingualism on mathematical learning began just over 25 years ago and has progressed from there, although research focusing on the Asia-Pacific region is still quite limited. This paper presents details about a current project in this area. CARE's Riel Maths research project investigates ethnic…

Previous research has emphasized the importance of language for learning mathematics. This is especially true when mathematical problems have to be extracted from a meaningful context, as in arithmetic word problems. Bilingual learners with a low command of the instructional language thus may face challenges when dealing with mathematical…

This research study evaluates the effectiveness of a Spanish-English dual language immersion (DLI) program. Many researchers have found that high-quality and long-term DLI programs promote academic achievement and high levels of language proficiency for both language groups. Despite the evidence, leaders from the field of bilingual education have…

Heeding Hillard's call for teachers to crack the walls of the matrix (inequitable schooling), this qualitative case study used Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory as a theoretical lens and methodological tool to investigate the reflections of three elementary pre-service teachers. The first research question examined participants'…

This report summarizes data on English language learners' academic achievement, English language acquisition, and other school data from 2005-2006 to 2008-2009 school years.

When literacy instruction is integrated and contextualized in a child's background knowledge and daily experiences, learning is increased. This mixed-methods study describes effective bilingual instruction in second-grade classrooms in the United States where teachers utilize students' linguistic capital and foster home-school connections, two…

Drawing from sociocultural and anthropological perspectives, I present 3 case examples of bilingual, Mexican-origin students enrolled in a transitional bilingual educational program in an urban elementary school. By using the theoretical constructs of figured worlds, authoring, and "formas de ser" (ways of being), I examine how student identities…

A large and growing number of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in the US and around the world have the potential to develop bilingualism and biliteracy if supported in their immediate environment. At the forefront in focusing exclusively on biliteracy development in early childhood across a variety of languages, this…