This paper reports a study that examined the academic language of middle school social studies education, as found in textual and classroom discourse, and the instructional practices effective in guiding students to accomplish academically and socially meaningful tasks. It involved classroom-based research, analysis of textbook discourse,…

The report details a study of ways in which classroom teachers can promote language minority students' academic linguistic competence in English, develop and implement social studies lessons that are sensitive to the cultural and educational backgrounds of language minority students, and help these students adapt to the school-based culture. The…

This digest discusses the issues involved in implementing middle school foreign language programs. A number of implementation and instructional issues are highlighted, including: scheduling, staffing, teacher recruitment, teacher certification, staff development, curriculum development, teaching methods, and instructional materials. (VWL)

A project to develop an explicit model of sheltered instruction that teachers can use to improve the academic success of their limited-English-proficient (LEP) students is described, focusing on the development of an observation tool for use in the study. The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) provides concrete examples of the…