ERIC Number: ED311727
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1989-Jun
Pages: 37
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Bilingual Language Arts Survival Training: Project BLAST, 1987-88. OREA Evaluation Report.
Berney, Tomi D.; Alvarez, Rosalyn
Project Bilingual Language Arts Survival Training (BLAST) served 254 Spanish-speaking 9th- through 12th-graders at Walton High School in the Bronx in its fifth year of funding. The program's aim was to supplement the school's bilingual program by providing instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL), native language arts (NLA) and culture, and bilingual instruction in math, science, and social studies. The program also provided extracurricular activities, career orientation, college counseling, coping skills and citizenship training, parent involvement, and staff development activities. The program met the objectives in ESL, NLA, and student attendance. It also met most of its objectives in parental involvement, staff development, and curriculum development. Content area classes were not evaluated as proposed. Program changes over the previous year include a larger population, budget cuts leading to shortages of materials and modified objectives, separate classes for native and non-native Spanish-speakers, hiring of fully bilingual content area teachers, increased parent involvement activities, and development of career awareness and computer literacy curricula. There was also a high dropout rate as students took jobs because of economic needs. It is recommended that BLAST staff should be relieved of time-consuming building assignments; that staff and counselors should try to reach consensus on when students should be mainstreamed; and that the project should supply data needed for evaluation. (MSE)
Descriptors: Academic Advising, Attendance, Bilingual Education Programs, Career Exploration, Citizenship Education, Counseling Services, Cultural Enrichment, English (Second Language), Extracurricular Activities, Federal Programs, High Schools, Mathematics Instruction, Native Language Instruction, Parent Participation, Program Effectiveness, Program Evaluation, Science Instruction, Social Studies, Spanish Speaking, Staff Development
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Department of Education, Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn, NY. Office of Research, Evaluation, and Assessment.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A