The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore and identify issues related to training teachers to use a bilingual writing rubric designed to examine the biliterate writing of emerging bilingual students who are participating in a biliteracy model. Findings indicate the need to provide clarifications on the rubric rating criteria and the…

Using the frameworks of critical discourse analysis, representation theory, and legitimization theory, this study examines the political discourse of the campaign for Proposition 227 in California--particularly, the key social representations of languages, their speakers, and the main political actors in the campaign. The analysis examines the…

The study examined how the English reading performance of predominantly Spanish-speaking students in transitional bilingual education compared with the performance of predominantly Spanish-speaking students in structured English immersion. The study analyzed data on three cohorts of students in six schools in Los Angeles; Denver; Albuquerque; St.…

This document is designed to assist teachers and school personnel serving the needs of non- and limited-English Spanish-speaking students in Colorado schools so that teachers can create a nurturing environment that enhances learning among Spanish-speaking students. Expressions common to the school environment are given in English and in Spanish…

Three hundred twelve respondents representing a cross section of Colorado Hispanic families participated in a 1978 questionnaire survey developed by the Colorado Department of Education to assess the mobility and point of origin of the state's Hispanic population and to provide information about attitudes and feelings concerning the public school…

Dual-language education, or dual immersion, is an educational model that is used in public school districts in the United States to provide education to English-speaking and non-English-speaking children with the goal of having each group of students learn a second language. Over the past 30 years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number…

Discusses the Colorado state Bilingual-Bicultural Education Act, passed in 1975, focusing on the implementation of the law, the law's effects, problems in implementing the law, and issues in assessing the success or failure of the implementation of the law. (JM)

Test report on usefulness of model that utilized collaboration between a school and community in formulation of language policy and selection of bilingual education program. Model assessed sociolinguistic parameters of the community, identified maintenance or transfer status of Spanish, and evaluated degree of ethnic homogeneity between parents…

Examines the activities in several towns in western Colorado of the Chicago Education Project, an organization which attempts to make Colorado schools more responsive to Chicano students by increasing the number of bilingual/bicultural classes and the number of Chicano teachers. (JM)

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a two-way immersion elementary school program on academic achievement at the end of the elementary school and the end of the first year of junior high school. Longitudinal high stakes test data in reading, writing, and mathematics were collected on native English speakers and native Spanish…

Because a lack of adequate data eliminated the possibility of using control groups or historical comparison groups, Colorado's procedure for evaluating state bilingual/bicultural programs was designed to determine whether children in the bilingual program (K-3) had learned more than they would have learned if they had not been in the program. A…

This article challenges the pervasive notion that linguistic and ethnic diversity are causes of the perceived gap in achievement in schools highly affected by Spanish-speaking students participating in programs of bilingual education. The study examines existing data from the state of Colorado with regard to student achievement and compares these…

As bilingual education emerges after the 1974 Lau decision, the additional need to test the language proficiency of bilingual education teachers is recognized. Examination of possible means of validating language proficiency of bilingual education teacher certification candidates shows several alternatives, some desirable and some not. A review of…

A small-scale investigation of the school performance and progress of Mexican Americans in Colorado during the 1970's indicated that the overall achievement pattern was similar to one noted for Hispanics nationally and in the Southwest: a consistently low and regularly decreasing performance in standardized tests of math and reading after grade…

Do you feel that schools are only for teachers, principals, and people who have special training in education? Well, Centennial schools need help from parents. You don't need any special skills or training. All you have to do is care about making schools better places for children to learn. How can you help your children's schools do a better job?…