Special education and bilingual teachers are in high demand. Many teachers in these specialization areas enter the profession via alternative certification programs, expedited routes to teacher certification. There is little research focusing on the specific support needs of novice special education and bilingual teachers from these widely varying…

Is the U.S. Supreme Court inviting litigants to take aim at unraveling injunctions in institutional reform litigation--especially consent decrees in the schools? In "Horne v. Flores" (2009), the court remanded a 17-year-old school reform case to a federal judge with orders to look beyond consent decrees on financing, reducing class…

The design and outcome of a bilingual education program evaluation, emphasizing instructional and attitudinal variables, are described in this article. Based upon the evaluation and needs assessment of Puerto Rican students taking part in the program, recommendations are offered for increasing bilingual reading, writing, and speaking skills in…

Discusses the limitations of Hirsch's concept of cultural literacy and suggests that the anthropological concept of cross-cultural literacy is more appropriate. Reviews (1) the resolutions of the Council on Anthropology and Education that are concerned with cultural diversity; and (2) the controversies surrounding bilingual education. (EVL)

Central to the bilingual/bicultural debate is whether the United States should continue to serve as a "melting pot" for diverse ethnic groups, or encourage differences in culture, lifestyle, and language. This article focuses on the role that courts and law makers have played in dealing with these apparently antithetical impulses.…

The effectiveness of education as an intervention strategy for the upward mobility of poor and minority group children is examined. It is hypothesized that if the general education intervention strategy is not successful, then the full potential of bilingual programs will not be realized. (Author/GC)

Today, Native Americans rank lowest in every measure of health, income, schooling, and achievement. A separate amendment to the Title VII Act is needed for bilingual-bicultural education for American Indian children based upon the unique status of the Indian peoples in order to improve this situation. (Author/GC)

Dual language education programs have become increasingly popular among elementary schools across the country. These programs are touted to represent a promise of a more equitable education for children whose parents are immigrants or whose first languages are not English. Nonetheless, these programs are also known to have appeal to monolingual…

Describes a longitudinal research project to introduce holistic-constructivistic pedagogy into bilingual special education classrooms. The authors report the process of teacher change as teachers shifted from a medical model to a contextual-performance model for viewing abilities and disabilities, the changes in students' attitudes toward reading…

Reviews the literature on mentoring teachers, focusing on bilingual and bicultural education and emphasizing issues relevant in urban settings. An interactive model of mentoring is proposed in which bilingual teachers, whether mentors or new teachers, can share perspectives sorely needed in this age of increasing cultural diversity. (SLD)

Literature is limited demonstrating how some in-service teachers have developed sociopolitical consciousness and why they commit to social justice. Drawing on interviews, email correspondence, and Facebook postings collected throughout a school year, this article shows the life experiences of one white dual language educator who developed…

This case study focuses on a 2008 incident where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vans appeared near a K-5 elementary school. It was the first time school personnel experienced the impact of federal immigration agents policing illegality in their school community, and the event set off a chain of decision-making choices as to how…

Many urban classrooms are facing an influx of students who are transient, part of migrant families who decide to reside in cities and large urban centers looking for financial stability and better educational opportunities for their children. This represents a different challenge for English as a second language, bilingual, and mainstream teachers…

The U.S. District of Columbia's Federal Circuit Court decision in "Hobson v. Hanson" (1967) case eliminated racial discriminatory tracking practices in the nation's capitol's public schools. The court ruled that D.C. Public Schools' tracking violated African American and low income students' rights to equal opportunities to education…

Presents a framework of biliteracy development focusing on the following three continua: (1) the macro-micro continuum of policy; (2) the monolingual-bilingual continuum; and (3) the oral-literate continuum. These are discussed in the contexts of Cambodian and Puerto Rican students in two public elementary schools in Philadelphia. (SLD)