Outlines what to look for in determining whether a classroom is truly bilingual, including the following: (1) uses of languages; (2) the cultural component; (3) instructional materials; (4) parent involvement; (5) personnel; and (6) administration. (LHW)

The collection of narratives by eight bilingual education teachers addresses what the teachers experience and how they make sense of bilingual teaching, including successful teaching strategies, and is intended to encourage other bilingual education teachers to find their own solutions to instructional problems. An introductory section explains…

A Mexican American teacher/administrator describes her experiences with bilingual education as a limited-English-proficient child, college student, bilingual teacher, graduate student, district administrator, teacher of bilingual teachers, and employee in a federal technical assistance center, and traces the impact of Title VII (the Bilingual…

Describes the multicultural language practices used at Western Hills Elementary School in Denver, Colorado. Discusses social and cultural dimensions of learning and their relationships to second language acquisition. Describes exploring cultural diversity through school-wide themes, encouraging second-language development for teachers and…

Surveys of 176 bilingual preK-5 teachers in San Antonio (Texas) schools investigated bilingual teachers' beliefs about the nature of knowledge and the influence of those beliefs on teaching practices. Respondents had specific beliefs about how bilingual children learn, and their beliefs were influenced by prior experiences, especially professional…

The summary of a conference on the role of cultural context in bilingual education includes: brief overviews in French, German, Italian, and English; an introductory essay on the conference topic (Jacques-Andre Tschoumy); a foreword in German; background information on the sponsoring organization (Institut Romand de Recherches et Documentation…

This report summarizes a fact-finding forum (May 6, 1988) on the status of bilingual education in Chicago (Illinois), held to fulfill a court-mandated responsibility to identify and uncover disparities in education. Six invited panelists, representing all areas of bilingual education and seven teachers, school staff, community group…

This report describes a diagnostic instrument designed for school districts to use in assessing the training needs of bilingual staff. The construction and trial administration of the instrument involved several stages. Among these were the development of a pool of subscaled questions, questionnaire forms, and a pool of instrument questions. The…

Since bilingual education became an official government mandate, there has been much controversy regarding its philosophy, objectives, procedures, and effectiveness. Some educators choose to view bilingual education as transitory, and other educators believe minority students should be given bilingual instruction throughout their public school…

The belief that bilinguals are an asset to their country is not held by most bilinguals today, much less the general public. This paper describes on-going research into the discovery that many bilinguals conceal their linguistic skill in the home language when in an English-speaking environment, passing as English-speaking monolinguals. Data are…

This is an administrative guide for bilingual/bicultural education programs in the Detroit, Michigan, public schools. The first section of the guide provides background on the legal mandate for bilingual education. Section two discusses the identification and selection of limited English-speaking ability pupils for bilingual services. The third…

This report reviews the bilingual program of a New York City school district (with large concentrations of students of Chinese and Hispanic backgrounds) whose goals were the training of bilingual personnel, the development of a bilingual-bicultural curriculum, and the development of a bilingual resource center. Discussed are: the implementation of…

The learning module described is designed for bilingual teachers who want to improve skills at training bilingual teacher aides. The product is presented in both English and Spanish. The scope and sequencing of topics in the four modules composing the entire package is outlined. The activities and resources involved in the use of the module are…

Under federal funding and with assistance from the Choctaw Indian Tribe, Mississippi State University has developed a teacher training program for Choctaw students who are majoring in elementary education. Students who take courses in the bilingual/bicultural education curriculum obtain knowledge and skills in the following areas: (1) development…

In this speech Congressman Pucinski reviews the outlook for bilingual education in the United States. He reminds us that the gains that have been made in the past two or three years "are impressive in their intent," but that we must renew our dedication to this ideal or lose "the initial momentum which has been so long in the…