In the beginning of the 21st century, the advancement of science and technology, and communications in particular, made possible for one to know how human activities affect ecosystems and the biosphere. Knowing the increasingly larger scale and volume of the planet occupied by the human species, it would be absolutely reckless on one's part not to…

Grounded in sociocultural theory, this study uses an ecological approach to examine how student interactions within a dual-language school context may offer affordances for increased linguistic and conceptual understanding. Using qualitative analysis of student discourse, this paper focuses on data from recorded interactions between pairs of…

This paper examines the political meanings of language in the USA, from the perspectives of both majority- and minority-language groups, and focuses especially on Mainstream US English, African-American Vernacular English, and Spanish. It briefly traces the history of language policy in US education and argues that because language serves as a…

Keeping periodic track of the progress English language learners (ELLs) are making in their second language acquisition skills is essential. Learning a second language is a complex process. It's important for educators to gauge each student's abilities and skills regularly; each English language learner will acquire second language knowledge and…

The "Teaching Reading Sourcebook, Second Edition" is a comprehensive reference about reading instruction. Organized according to the elements of explicit instruction (what? why? when? and how?), the "Sourcebook" includes both a research-informed knowledge base and practical sample lesson models. It teaches the key elements of an effective reading…

There is a growing recognition of the need for Americans who are proficient in languages other than English; however, there is a great disconnect between these needs, state English-only education policies, and current federal education policy as realized through the No Child Left Behind Act (NLCB) of 2001. These policies are moving the country in…

The use of content-based language instruction (CBI) offers an innovative and effective method for teaching core geographic concepts and skills while students study a second language. This article focuses on a collaborative initiative developed and tested by university and high school level geography and second-language educators. The goal of the…

Peer-mediated approaches have been used for years to improve the academic behaviors of students, especially those with disabilities. The most systematized and well researched of the peer-mediated approaches relates to peer tutoring systems, which include specific elements of training, implementation, and evaluation. The purpose of this article is…

This volume examines the ramifications of individual differences in therapy outcomes for a wide variety of communication disorders. In an era where evidence-based practice is the clinical profession's watchword, each chapter attacks this highly relevant issue from a somewhat different perspective. In some areas of communication disorders,…

Austin Partners in Education, a nonprofit organization, helps the community and AISD classrooms work together to ensure academic excellence and personal success for students. Academic outcomes, student engagement, and other variables for school year 2008-2009 were examined in this report.

This study explores influences on bilingual children's phonological awareness (PA) performance in English, examining the role of language of instruction and vocabulary. English monolingual and Spanish-English bilingual kindergartners and first graders receiving either English or Spanish literacy instruction were assessed in English PA and in…

Two-way bilingual immersion programs are noteworthy within the context of US public education because, in them, the children of immigrants are essential assets. Language-minority and English-speaking pupils are grouped together, starting in kindergarten or earlier and extending at least through grade five, with a goal of bilingual proficiency and…

Fifty-four students were tested at specific time intervals over 10 years to determine best native language (NL) predictors of oral and written foreign language (FL) proficiency and FL aptitude. All participants completed two years of Spanish, French, or German. Each was administered measures of NL literacy, oral language, and cognitive ability in…

Nearly one in five Americans speaks a language other than English at home; among Americans speaking languages other than English, the largest single language group is Spanish speaking (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2004). The increase in the total group of language minority individuals has been dramatic, with their proportion in the U.S. population…

In this article, the author focuses on the best way to teach English to English-language learners. Some researchers say the English-only approach short-changes English learners in the long run. Here, results from a five-year study by the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence, which examined 200,000 K-12 Spanish-speaking…