Improving Schooling for Language-Minority Children

How do we effectively teach children from homes in which a language other than English is spoken?


In Improving Schooling for Language-Minority Children, a committee of experts focuses on this central question, striving toward the construction of a strong and credible knowledge base to inform the activities of those who educate children as well as those who fund and conduct research.


The book reviews a broad range of studies?from basic ones on language, literacy, and learning to others in educational settings. The committee proposes a research agenda that responds to issues of policy and practice yet maintains scientific integrity.


This comprehensive volume provides perspective on the history of bilingual education in the United States; summarizes relevant research on development of a second language, literacy, and content knowledge; reviews past evaluation studies; explores what we know about effective schools and classrooms for these children; examines research on the education of teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse students; critically reviews the system for the collection of education statistics as it relates to this student population; and recommends changes in the infrastructure that supports research on these students.


Table of Contents


FRONT MATTER
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1 OVERVIEW
2 BILINGUALISM AND SECOND-LANGUAGE LEARNING
3 COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF SCHOOL LEARNING: LITERACY DEVELOPMENT AND
CONTENT LEARNING
4 THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF SCHOOL LEARNING
5 STUDENT ASSESSMENT
6 PROGRAM EVALUATION
7 STUDIES OF SCHOOL AND CLASSROOM EFFECTIVENESS
8 PREPARATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS SERVING ENGLISH-LANGUAGE
LEARNERS
9 ESTIMATING POPULATION PARAMETERS
10 ISSUES RELATED TO THE RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE
11 PRIORITIES FOR RESEARCH
A THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR RESEARCH ON ENGLISH-LANGUAGE LEARNERS AND
BILINGUAL EDUCATION
B FEDERAL AND STATE INTERVIEWS
C FUNDED RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
D COMMITTEE SOURCES
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
INDEX
OTHER REPORTS FROM THE BOARD ON CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES