This report presents the evaluation of the Fall River Middle School Research and Development Center, a project funded under Title VII of the 1965 Elementary Secondary Act as a model demonstration bilingual program, beginning in 1972-1973. The Title VII bilingual program operated at the fifth grade level in three schools with two bilingual program…

A discussion of the effect of an immersion program on the majority language child. Research is reviewed on the "threshold hypothesis" and "the developmental interdependence hypothesis." Recent studies of the cognitive and academic effects of bilingualism are critically examined in the light of these hypotheses. A bibliography…

This update summarizes the first 2 years of a 5-year evaluation of the implementation of California's Proposition 227 (which replaces the state's bilingual education programs with 1-year English immersion programs) and its effects on the education of English language learners (ELLs). Researchers used the percentage of ELLs receiving primary…

This study examined the impact of implementation of the Ghanaian government's mother tongue language policy, noting whether bilingual/mother tongue education would lead to improved academic achievement of elementary school students or would reinforce the marginalized position of linguistic minority children in developing countries. Data came from…

An evaluation was conducted of the third year of a 5-year comprehensive bilingual education grant funded by Title VII of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994. The grant funds a program of developmental bilingual education at two elementary schools in the Austin Independent School District (Texas). More than 25% of the students at each…

Describes a bilingual education program for Finnish children in Sweden. Analyzes some of the factors influencing the school and language achievement of the Finnish pupils and compares their achievement level with other relevant student groups. (EKN)

Notes the difficulty of sorting out the root cause of poor test performance by Spanish-speaking students, and the scarcity of demonstrably effective solutions. Illustrates these difficulties by discussing low English academic engagement by limited-English-proficient students and the challenges of making the transition from native language to…

Based on a literacy interdependence theory, uses findings from the Ramirez et al. study on programs for Spanish-speaking, limited-English-proficient students to refute theories opposing bilingual education. Expresses concern that all three program types in the Ramirez study reflect transmission models of pedagogy in which students have little…

Reviews the reported findings and implications of the Ramirez et al. study. Examines the validity of the operational definitions of the program types and the degree of implementation of the models. Discusses the seven major findings of the study, and some possibly misleading conclusions. (KS)

In 1998, California voters approved Initiative 227, requiring that all limited-English children be provided an English-immersion program for 1 year or longer as needed. Hispanic parents are leaders in the movement. Dire predictions that bilingual children in English-language classrooms would fall behind have not materialized. (Contains 18…

Using available data from Singapore's national census and economic reports, national exams, international comparison studies and small-scale studies, this paper examines the sociohistorical circumstances that led to the creation of Singapore's bilingual education policy, the results of this policy on recent academic achievement and implications…

This document contains the final evaluation profile for the Bilingual Academic Services and Integrated Career Systems (Project BASICS). A brief extract presents an overview of salient points of the project: funding cycle; enrollment figures; background of students served; admission criteria; and programming features, strengths, and limitations,…

In 1992-93, Saginaw (Michigan) School District bilingual and migrant programs operated as one program at 24 elementary schools, 4 junior high schools, and both high schools. Enrollments were 677 students, primarily Hispanics, in the bilingual program and 585 students in the migrant program, but there was considerable overlap between enrollments.…

In 1984-85, Project BITEC was in the second year of a 3-year funding cycle at New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn, New York. The program provides courses in English as a second language (ESL), native language arts in Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and Vietnamese; and bilingual (mostly in Italian and Spanish) instruction in mathematics, science, and…

This multi-site instructional program (Project MAS) provides instruction in English as a second language and native language arts, as well as bilingual instruction in mathematics and science to approximately 400 Spanish-speaking schools. It serves third through eighth graders at four sites in the Bronx. Its instructional and non-instructional…