The paper examines the continuing overrepresentation of minorities in special education programs for the mildly handicapped and their underrepresentation in programs for the gifted and talented. Alternative policy strategies are presented for advocates and decision makers concerned with reducing the increasing racial and ethnic disparities in…

This report of the New Hampshire Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights contends that the Manchester, New Hampshire, school department has failed to provide adequate bilingual instruction for language minority students in that district, as specified by the provisions of Title VI and the "Lau v. Nichols" decision. It…

This document provides a detailed discussion of two laws and three court cases affecting the education of non-English speaking children. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 addresses equal education opportunities for all Americans. The Four Point Memorandum issued by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare specifically deals with…

Recent court decisions are reviewed to clarify what schools must do to help non-English-speaking children. Court decisions indicate that: (1) educational programs must be theoretically and practically effective; (2) labeling and grouping procedures must not intentionally discriminate; and (3) teachers must be adequately trained. (PP)

This newsletter contains seven articles related to the educational rights of culturally diverse language-minority students. "20 Years after Lau: In Pursuit of Equity Not Just a Language Response Program," by Alicia Salinas Sosa, points out that educational responses to Lau vs. Nichols have been minimum-compliance programmatic responses…

This report examines the most prominent decisions resulting from the 1974 Supreme Court Lau v. Nichols ruling that public schools cannot ignore the problems faced by students whose native language is other than English. Special attention is focused on the remedies that have been ordered to cure "Lau" violations. The activities of the…

Lau vs Nichols is a 1974 Supreme Court decision which charged that the San Francisco Unified School District had denied equal educational opportunity to non-English-speaking students by failing to provide them with any special language instruction. The court decision was based on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which provides against…

In a question and answer format, this booklet describes the Lau v. Nichols decision in which the Supreme Court ruled that the San Francisco Unified School District was guilty of discrimination because non-English speaking students were not given special language instruction. The booklet presents the basis for the Lau decision, describing a…

The Lau v. Nichols decision and its implications for school districts are explained in this question and answer format paper. Lau compliance plans are described in full. The number of students necessary for development of a plan or program, what a Lau plan should include, and appropriate program types are detailed. (MK)

This report focuses on issues relating to the development and implementation of educational programs for and placement of national origin minority students identified as having limited English proficiency. It examines the present-day barriers that prevent students with limited English proficiency from having an equal opportunity to participate in…

A narration of the federal Department of Education's attempt to promulgate regulations protecting minority-language students' civil rights examines the roles of federal agencies, Congress, state and local governments, the courts, civil rights groups, teacher and administrator groups, and the media in the regulatory process. An introductory section…

The "Lau" decision of 1974, which was related to the education of Chinese-speaking students in San Francisco (California), ushered in new programs, teaching approaches, frameworks, legislation, and government agencies designed to redress fundamental inequities in the educational opportunities available to language minority students. This…

Analyzes commonalities between "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas" and "Lau v. Nichols" compliance efforts and outcomes, recommending strategies for the next decade, including reduction of residential segregation, desegregation by socioeconomic status, untracking, funding initiatives, family friendly policies, and…

This paper presents a brief historical overview and summary of the various approaches and recent developments in the field of bilingual education. The controversy that exists with respect to the different approaches to bilingual education has prevented the development of national goals and guidelines and the preparation of adequate evaluation…

Equity in access to educational resources faces new challenges in the age of technology, with great disparity in access to educational technology. The article proposes an alternative direction for equity of access to global learning networks as a catalyst for genuine educational reform that upholds civil rights law. (Author/SM)