Adaptation Pedagogy for English Learners in Multicultural Contexts

A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E N AT I O N A L A S S O C I AT I O N F O R B I L I N G U A L E D U C AT I O NJ A N UA RY F E B R UA RY 2012

Perspectives

P L U S Scientific Biliteracy A New Perspective and Pedagogical Approach on Science Learning

LiteracyLearning Strategies for Teachers of American Indian Students

From Enrichment to Immersion in ChineseMandarin ndash Transforming Public Education for the 21st Century

Adaptation Pedagogy for English Learners in Multicultural Contexts

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Articles for Perspectives must be original concise and accessible with minimal use of jargon or acronyms References charts and tables are permissible although these too should be kept to a minimum Effective articles begin with a strong ldquoleadrdquo paragraph that entices the reader rather than assuming interest in the subject They develop a few themes clearly without undue repetition or wandering off on tangents

The Perspectives editors are eager to receive manuscripts on a wide range of topics related to Bilingual and English learner programs including curriculum and instruction effectiveness studies professional development school finance parental involvement and legislative agendas We also wel-come personal narratives and reflective essays with which readers can identify on a human as well as a professional level

Researchers are encouraged to describe their work and make it relevant to practitioners Strictly academic articles however are not appropriate for Perspectives and should be sub-mitted instead to the Bilingual Research Journal No commercial submissions will be accepted

TYPES OF ARTICLESEach issue of Perspectives usually contains three or four feature articles of approximately 2000 ndash 2500 words often related to a central theme

Reviews are much shorter (500 ndash 750 words in length) describing and evaluating popular or professional books curriculum guides

textbooks computer programs plays movies and videos of interest to educators of English language learners Manuscripts written or spon-sored by publishers of the work being reviewed are not accepted Book reviews and articles should be emailed to

Dr Joseacute Agustiacuten Ruiz-Escalantejare21yahoocom

Columns are Asian and Pacific Islander Education and Indigenous Bilingual Education (If you have other ideas for a regular column please let us know) These articles are somewhat shorter in length (1000 ndash 1500 words and should be emailed to one of the editors below

Asian and Pacific Islander Education Dr Clara C Park claraparkcsunedu

Indigenous Bilingual EducationDr Jon Allen Reyhner jonreyhnernauedu

PREPARING ARTICLES FOR SUBMISSIONManuscripts to be considered for the MarchApril issue must be received by February 15 Manuscripts to be considered for the MayJune

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Telephone (240) 450-3700

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wwwnabeorg J A N U A R Y ndash F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2 V O L U M E 3 4 I S S U E 2

PerspectivesPublished by the National Association

for Bilingual Education

EDITOR

DR JOSEacute AGUSTIacuteN RUIZ-ESCALANTETHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS ndash PAN AMERICAN

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

DR LEO GOacuteMEZTHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS ndash PAN AMERICAN

DR MARIacuteA GUADALUPE ARREGUIacuteN-ANDERSONTHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO

DR EIRINI GOULETAUNITED KINGDOM DEPARTMENT FOR

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER COLUMN EDITOR

DR CLARA C PARKCALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY-NORTHRIDGE

INDIGENOUS BILINGUAL EDUCATION COLUMN EDITOR

DR JON ALLAN REYHNERNORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY

DESIGN amp LAYOUT

WINKING FISH

PRINT AND EDITORIAL POLICYReaders are welcome to reprint

noncopyrighted articles that appear in Perspectives at no charge provided proper credit is given both to the author(s) and to

Perspectives as the source publication

All articles printed in Perspectives unless written by an Association staff person or a member of the current NABE Executive Board of Directors are solely the opinion

of the author or authors and do not represent the official policy or position of the National Association for Bilingual

Education Selection of articles for inclusion in Perspectives is not an official endorsement by NABE of the point(s) of

view expressed therein

Cover Story

Adaptation Pedagogy for English Learners in Multicultural ContextsJose W Lalas and Marie Therese A P Bustos 5

Columns amp ArticlesScientific Biliteracy A New Perspective and Pedagogical Approach on Science LearningEsther Garza 12

LiteracyLearning Strategies for Teachers of American Indian StudentsR Timothy Rush 17

Struggling Learners amp Language Immersion Education Research-based Practitioner- informed Responses to Educatorsrsquo Top QuestionsShogo Sakurai 19

From Enrichment to Immersion in ChineseMandarin ndash Transforming Public Education for the 21st CenturySarah Rice Fox 20

Departments

Letter from the President 4

Contributing to Perspectives - Guidelines for Writers2

Are you a memberMembership in NABE includes a subscription to Perspectives and so much more

Visit nabeorg to renew or start your new memberhip today

Contents

NABE EXECUTIVE BOARD 2 0 1 1 - 2 0 1 2

PRESIDENT Rossana Ramirez Boyd Ph DUniversity of North Texas

1155 Union Circle 310740Denton TX 76203

W (940) 565-2933 or (940) 391-4800F (940) 565-4952

rossanaboyduntedu

VICE PRESIDENT Eudes Budha

Westbury Public School District2 Hitchcock Lane

Old Westbury NY 11568W (516) 874-1833 F (516) 874-1826

ebudhaiwestburyschoolsorg

TREASURERLeo Gomez Ph D

COE UT Pan American1201 Edinburg TX 78539

W (956) 381-3629 F (956) 384-9221H (956) 467-9505

lgomezutpaedu or lgomez2aolcom

SECRETARYMinh-Anh Hodge Ed D

PO Box 1357Tacoma WA 98401

W (253) 571-1415 F (253) 571-1232mhodgetacomak12waus

MEMBER-AT-LARGEJoseacute Agustiacuten Ruiz-Escalante Ed D

3740 Frontier DriveEdinburg TX 78539W (956) 381-3440 F (518) 473-4678

H (956) 289-8106-6696jare21yahoocom

MEMBER-AT-LARGEYee Wan EdD

Santa Clara County of Office of Education1290 Ridder Park Drive MC 237

San Jose CA 95131-2304W (408) 453-6825yee-wansccoeorg

MEMBER-AT-LARGEClara Park Ph D

COE CA State Univ Northridge18111 Nordhoff St

Northridge CA 91330-8265W (818) 677-2500 F (818) 366-2714

claraparkcsunedu

MEMBER-AT-LARGEMiriam Eisenstein Ebsworth Ph D

NYU Steinhard635 East Building

New York NY 10003W (212) 998-5195 F (212) 995-4198

miriamebsworthnyuedu

MEMBER-AT-LARGEJulio Cruz Ed D

Northeastern Illinois University5500 N St LouisChicago IL 60625H (773) 369-4810

jcruzraolcom

PARENT REPRESENTATIVENorma E Hernandeznehdezgmailcom

Letter from the President Rossana Ramiacuterez Boyd

NABE Board President

NABE received 2012 as a year of hopes dreams and more successes for the organization and the constituents it represents Yes NABE is back and stronger than ever We have continued our advocacy efforts related to the Elementary and Secondary Education (ESEA) Reauthorization Bill Although the ESEA Bill in its current form may die and may not resurface until after the presidential elections NABE continues to be proactive and alert to make sure that bilingual learners and their families are not shortchanged in the end Please continue to take an active role in your states by contacting your U S senators so that they can speak up on behalf of our students when the debates take place

Also I invite you to participate in the feedback process for the Federal Consolidated Application that your state department prepared or will prepare to send to the USDOE for approval It is required that community organizations and constituents review the application to provide feedback Here is where you can make the greatest impact for bilingual learners You can recommend instructional programs and assessment with end goals of bilingualism biliteracy and multilingualism NABErsquos goal is to promote bilingualism biliteracy and multiculturalism among K-12 students The instructional programs that NABE promotes are dual language (one and two-way) late transitional bilingual and heritage language programs

Although by law education is the role of the state the federal government acts as an equalizer to make sure that funding received from taxpayers is also distributed to underrepresented student populations When a school district does not provide language services to its bilingual students or provides inadequate services any concerned citizen can file a complaint with any of the regional offices of the U S Department of Educationrsquos Office of Civil Rights In turn they will carry out a compliance review to make sure that appropriate procedures for the identification instruction assessment and exit of bilingual learners are in place

One of our current concerns is with the National Core Academic Standards They have been designed for the regular student population in mind and not for bilingual learners The push for standards in English and assessments in English create a danger to bilingual education programs The danger is focusing on English only instruction with very little or no regard for instruction in the native language of students I encourage you to bring this issue to the table in your area and remain alert to any developments

Best regards

Rossana Ramiacuterez Boyd Ph DNABE President

N AB E PERSPECT IVES J A N U A R Y ndash F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 24


COVER STORY

Jose W Lalas Professor of Literacy and Teacher Education University of Redlands Director of Center for Educational Justice University of Redlands

Marie Therese A P Bustos Assistant Professor of Special Education University of the Philippines

There is a huge body of research on effective theory and practice in

teaching English to bilingual students who live in the United States

that another practical article on the topic warrants teachers and

teacher educators to raise a red flag of skepticism because of the

amount of information in this field of study (Hinkel 2011 Echevarria

Richrds-Tutor Chinn amp Ratleff 2011 Walqui amp Lier 2010 Bailey 2007

Young amp Hadaway 2006)

A volunteer reading aloud to a group of children from an urban school in the Philippines

5J A N U A R Y ndash F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2 N AB E P ERSPECT I VES

The process of integrating what individuals know

into a unified whole (Ziegler and Alibali 2005) and the ldquointernal balancing

between assimilation and accommodationrdquo (Meadows 2006 p 263)

spurs development in human beings

However we submit that this paper is different because not only is it practical and research-based it also raises the issues of equity social and cultural factors ethic of care and social justice as theoretical underpinnings and practical considerations in planning for instruction for English learners in multicultural contexts It also implies working with English learners as a social and cultural obligation not just pedagogical to facilitate access to academic content across subject matter areas It emphasizes the notion that effective teachers ldquomake adaptationrdquo all the time to provide comprehensible information and ensure student engagement More importantly this paper revisits the contributions of developmental theorists such as Piaget and Vygotsky but goes beyond to complement them by stressing the importance of social and cultural factors in cognitive development and language learning In addition this paper suggests a struc-tured strategy for making instructional adaptation that could facilitate the subject matter content understanding and class-room engagement of English learners Through making academic content adapta-tion we describe as ldquoadaptation pedagogyrdquo cognitive and educationally-just solutions are created to meet the instructional needs of English learners and facilitate greater access for academic achievement in vari-ous ldquopolitically socially-situated contextsrdquo (Faltis 2011 Lalas 2007) Multicultural settings may empower or disadvantage group of learners due to their race ethnic-ity socioeconomic status gender sexual ori-entation exceptionality handicapping con-ditions geography and other ldquopolitically

socially-situated contextsrdquo (Faltis 2011 Gollnick amp Chinn 2009) We commit that adaptation pedagogy goes beyond ldquorecipesrdquo ldquoquick-fixesrdquo or ldquoadd-onsrdquo in providing the English learners access to academic content It is an episte-mological perspective a ldquosystem of know-ingrdquo (Ladson-Billings 2000) and a reflec-tive decision-making event that a teacher employs in working with diverse students Therefore this paper presents the notion of ldquoadaptation pedagogyrdquo as a practical solution to making academic content comprehensible to English learners through the integration of cognitive development and contemporary social justice perspectives

Cognitive Development and Adaptation PedagogyAlthough Piaget did not endorse any specific educational practices schools have emerged following a pedagogy that centers on the development of cognition interaction between children coordination of physical actions respect for the child as a constructor of knowledge play as a method of learning (Boyle 1982) and the teaching of math-ematical and scientific concepts following the thought structures (Demetriou Shayer and Efklides 1992) Piagetian theory is premised on the study of intelligence and cognitive developmental processes Piaget (1952 1975) considered intelligence as an adaptation Intelligence is manrsquos ability to adapt to his environ-ment Adaptation requires a balance of two processes namely assimilation and accom-modation Assimilation is the initial process of receiving stimuli from the environment and incorporating these into onersquos schema New elements are incorporated in existing

schemata which are constantly modified to adjust to these new elements The recipro-cal process is called accommodation which refers to the ldquoways in which people adapt their thinking to new experiencerdquo (Siegler amp Alibali 2005 p 31) Adjusting to these new experiences or new information involve developing new mental structures Piaget (1975) mentioned that such changes may be internal within the schemata or external as a response to an object or reality in the envi-ronment He described the process as fol-lows ldquoThe organism adapts itself by materi-ally constructing new forms to fit them into those of the universe whereas intelligence extends this creation by constructing men-tally structures which can be applied to those of the environmentrdquo (Piaget 1952 p 5) Inconsistency between existing schemata and incoming stimuli produce disequilib-rium in an individual When stimuli are dif-ferent from existing structures difficulty in assimilating and accommodating new con-cepts will be experienced ldquoThe mind can only be adapted to a reality if perfect accom-modation exists that is to say if nothing in that reality intervenes to modify the subjectrsquos schemata But inversely adaptation does not exist if the new reality has imposed motor or mental attitudes contrary to those which were adopted on contact with other earlier given data adaptation only exists if there is coherence hence assimilationrdquo (Piaget 1952 p 7) The process of integrating what individu-als know into a unified whole (Ziegler and Alibali 2005) and the ldquointernal balancing between assimilation and accommodationrdquo (Meadows 2006 p 263) spurs development in human beings Equilibration or the bal-ance between the two processes stimulates


cognitive growth especially when resolutions are found and new knowledge is accom-modated and applied Human growth from infancy to adulthood is a series of adaptations Vygotsky (1978) focuses on the impor-tance of social interaction in cognitive development Like Piaget he believed that learning occurs through the interaction of the learners with the world around them He formulated the zone of proximal devel-opment that he defined as ldquothe distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peersrdquo (p84) This definition is key in understanding how adaptation pedagogy facilitates learning at the zone of proximal development as the English learner attempts to understand concepts with sup-port from a capable peer or adult Consequently English learners gain access to academic content with support from teachers who make instructional adap-tations Adaptation pedagogy considers what the English learners bring in the instruc-tional contexts and provides productive opportunities to engage them actively with the curriculum instructional delivery class-room assessment and overall academic con-tent Making instructional adaptation can be viewed as an example of Vygotskyrsquos concept of scaffolding that a teacher provides to allow English learners the opportunity to function on a higher level According to Gunning (2010) the instructional implications of integrating the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky in facilitating literacy include the use of hands-on experi-ences recognition of individual differences that explain the development of learning of children at different rates use of developmen-tally appropriate activities and the fostering of learning through interaction of the learners with the teacher and peers These implica-tions are intricately embedded in making instructional adaptations for English learners

Complementary Theoretical Frameworks and Adaptation PedagogyDemetriou Shayer and Efklides (1992) and Guvain (2001) indicated the limita-tions of the Piagetian theory and cognitive

development in explaining learning Noteworthy is the lack of focus on the socio-cultural nature of learning and its effect on how children perform on cogni-tive tasks Cognitive development theories emphasize more on the interaction between human beings and the physical world than human interaction Neo-Piagetians recognize the involvement of the social environment in the construction of meaning and the real-ity of intra- and interpersonal differences in learning Siegel and Hodkin (1982) aptly argued the need for other theoretical frame-works to understand and address human differences Other theoretical frameworks that complement cognitive development theo-ries that may serve as pedagogical support for making instructional adaptations for English learners include ldquoethic of car-ingrdquo (Collier 2005 Noddings 1992) teacher learning (Darling-Hammond amp McLaughlin 1999 Elmore amp Burney 1999) working with diverse learners (Valenzuela 1999 Nieto 2000 2003 Trueba 1999 Stanton-Salazar 2001 Moll amp Gonzalez 2001) teaching for social justice (Michelli amp Keiser 2005 Cochran-Smith 2004 Brown 2004 Marshall amp Oliva 2006 Rodgers 2006 Adams Bell amp Griffin 1997) and language literacy and academic language development (Echevarria Vogt amp Short 2008 ) These frameworks imply the influence of social and cultural factors in planning for instruc-tion and making appropriate and relevant instructional adaptations for English learn-ers They also reflect the dynamic interac-tion among the learner the teacher and the classroom context as described by Ruddell and Unrau (2004) In addition there is an opportunity for teacher reflection to take place in utilizing these theoretical frame-works for making instructional decisions (Tremmel 1993 Schon 1987) Collier (2005) stresses the importance of the ldquoethic of caringrdquo as a motivating force for teacher efficacymdashteacherrsquos belief in hisher ability to make a difference in student learningmdashas well as the purpose-ful instructional decisions teachers make in their classrooms The caring roles of a teacher is similar to that of ldquomotheringrdquo which include the protection nurturing and shaping of the growth of the child Good caring teacher s are committed to their students improve their pedagogical

skills and content knowledge to meet the needs of their students establish trusts with their students and model how to care for the well being of all students (Noddings 1992) These are ldquocaringrdquo characteristics that teachers need to possess when working with English learners Similarly Darling-Hammond and Bartz-Snowden (2005 p 5) explain that a good teacher in every classroom must have knowledge of who their learners are and how they learn within social contexts understanding of the subject matter and skills to be taught and understanding of teaching in light of the content and learners to be taught as informed by assessment and supported by a productive environment These essential areas of knowledge provide teachers with a framework for understand-ing teaching and learning and inform teach-ers in making learning accessible to English language learners It is also important for teachers of English learners to understand the interac-tive connection between a teacherrsquos set of knowledge skills abilities and disposi-tion and the studentsrsquo prior knowledge academic literacy and language skills

Special education teachersvolunteers enriching the lives of bilingual students with special needs through community activities

A parentvolunteer reading aloud with bilingual children using a big book

J A N U A R Y ndash F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2 N AB E P ERSPECT I VES 7

and their overall personal abilities This dynamic teacher-learner interactive relation-ship within a diverse classroom context is vital to learning including the acquisi-tion of academic content knowledge and student engagement (Ruddell and Unrau 2004) The dynamic interaction between what experiences and academic capabilities English learners bring to the classroom and what backgrounds a teacher has plays signif-icant roles in facilitating access to academic subject matter content development of lan-guage and the construction of meaningful and purposeful knowledge The cognitive process of teacher reflec-tion includes problem solving inference activation of prior knowledge and beliefs and decision making It is this thought-ful reflective process that allows both the teacher and the learner to intentionally connect ideas based on their beliefs and knowledge to classroom context evalu-ate past classroom interaction or practice assess weaknesses and strengths and create an atmosphere of openness for instruc-tional adaptation Reflection plays a very important role in making adaptation that facilitates access to academic content com-prehension and language development (Tremmel 1993 Schon 1987)

Contemporary Educational Justice Lenses and Adaptation PedagogyAdaptation pedagogy reflects a social and educational justice instructional agenda It honors diversity equity openness and individual voice and unique expression (Brooks amp Thompson 2005) Teachers need to understand value and advocate for

diversity and educational justice because they are the foundations for providing ALL students with equitable learning environ-ments (Brooks amp Thompson 2005) It is personal commitment passion care and virtue for equity and educational justice that drive teachers to engage in adaptation pedagogy for English language learners Cochran-Smith (2004 p 159) asserts that teaching from a social justice perspective is not a matter simply of transmitting knowl-edge and equating pupil learning to higher scores on high-stakes tests but rather engag-ing pupils in ldquodeveloping critical habits of mind understanding and sorting out mul-tiple perspectives and learning to participate in and contribute to a democratic society by developing both the skill and the inclination for civic engagementrdquo Making instructional adaptation starts with the recognition that there are specific cultural characteristics that all students including the English learners bring to the learning process Howard (2010) asserts that ldquoculture is not bound by exclusively by onersquos race ethnicity or place of origin but is shaped by a myriad of factorsrdquo (p 53) such as social class gender family history reli-gion geography migration status and lan-guage He explains that these factors or cul-tural characteristics influence student learn-ing As we view culture as socially-situated contexts it is imperative that we share rel-evant research that implies the strong influ-ence of social and cultural factors on build-ing resiliency character and self-identity for academic success of the English learners Several related ldquosocial justice lensesrdquo such as politics of caring social networking and funds of knowledge (Lalas amp Valle 2007)

provide teachers a framework for advocating for effective schooling for English learners Valenzuela (1999) describes ldquopolitics of caringrdquo as the reciprocal relations of respect and support that need to be established between students and educators She believes that students and teachers need to nurture meaningful relationships to foster learning and enhance academic success She asserts that diverse students have to be cared for respected and valued by their peers teach-ers and administrators before they can care about school It is important for the English learners to feel connected and comfortable in the classroom Nieto (2003 2000) cites studies that linked supportive networks of teachers and friends to academic success of Hispanic students Personal relationships that developed between teachers and minor-ity students serve as ldquoprotective networksrdquo that strengthen and motivate students to achieve Stanton-Salazar (2001) explains the need for diverse students to create social con-nections with ldquoinstitutional agentsrdquo such as teachers counselors and mentors who can provide them career and academic guidance defend their interests and advocate for their success While student motivation and tal-ents are important the assistance provided by these institutional agents is important and can guide the studentsrsquo overall prog-ress in the highly competitive and complex learning environments Stanton-Salazar (2001) also recognizes the valuable role of parents in inspiring their bilingual children to strengthen their bilingual-bicultural forms identity that can serve to develop their self-esteem and allow them to perform at a higher level academically

Diverse students have to be cared for respected and valued

by their peers teachers and administrators before they can care about school It is important for the English learners to feel connected

and comfortable in the classroom


The term ldquofunds of knowledgerdquo refers to studentsrsquo lived experiences in their homes schools and communities including the variety of multiple identities students have their social backgrounds and their overall experiences These are practices that are embedded in the labor domestic family and community affairs of Mexican American families as shown in research studies by Luis Moll and other colleagues (Moll amp Gonzalez 2001 Moll Amanti Neff amp Gonzalez 1992) The notion of funds of knowledge is a recognition of the set of knowledge experiences abilities practices resources and dispositions at homes and communities where students live including the English learners It fosters positive social identities for English learners and informs teachers about the harmful ways in which the school curriculum may exclude some and privilege others Teachers should learn how to build from the ldquofunds of knowledgerdquo diverse students already have by openly acknowledging diversity in language cul-ture gender ethnicity sexual orientation and class backgrounds as valuable points of reference Similarly Trueba (1999) explains the notion of cultural resiliency as a process by which immigrant children and their fami-lies learn to rely upon their culture family friends and ethnic community as sources of support Teachers should recognize the notion of resiliency as they build the stu-dentsrsquo positive personal traits self-esteem and dispositions through their classroom interaction with students Generally stu-dents who maintain a strong self-identity with their social and cultural community are able to do well in school in spite of social inequities

Adaptation Pedagogy What is itCurrent approaches to teaching English as a second language take the form of shel-tered instruction in which English learners are taught subject matter concepts while developing proficiency in English The SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) Model for example outlines a comprehensive set of components in facili-tating language and content that includes lesson preparation building background comprehensible input strategies interac-tion practiceapplication lesson delivery and reviewassessment (Echevarria Vogt

amp Short 2008) Other current studies focus on teaching academic language content and vocabulary as well as equip students with thinking strategies and criti-cal literacy they need to be active learn-ers (Luke amp Dooley 2011 Echevarria Richards-Tutor Chinn amp Ratleff 2011 Kieffer amp Lesaux 2010) However the growing concern of many teachers is how to teach language and content to a few English learners in class while also teaching a whole class of mainstream native-English speaking stu-dents in a multicultural classroom Making instructional adaptation is imperative in order to provide English learners access to academic curriculum and instruction In this situation teachers are not only teaching the English learners academic content and language they are also serving as advocates for equity positive behavior caring con-nections resiliency and studentsrsquo race and culture Subsequently through teachersrsquo careful attention to their linguistic cul-tural social and academic needs English learners become connected participants to the classroom culture and active users and consumers of the curriculum Teachers have the ultimate opportunity to involve English learners in worthy comprehensible activities that promote the recognition of the value of each individual in the classroom and create learning environments that are democratic just equitable and caring As can be gathered at this point adap-tation pedagogy is not just a process of knowing and making relevant and appro-priate plans for English learners to make subject matter comprehensible engage and support students in learning and cre-ate effective environments for learning It is influenced by an informed decision to create a relevant and appropriate yet challenging learning experience where all students feel safe comfortable trusted confident and respected for who they are what identity they take on what level of academic proficiency they bring and the cultural beliefs and traditions they uphold The teacher engaged in adaptation peda-gogy is not only knowledgeable of subject matter content and aware of the social economic linguistic and cultural factors that affect learning heshe also recognizes the need for students to acquire a deeper understanding of the instructional material in order to make it relevant to their lives

Adaptation Pedagogy Start with ReflectionTo begin with pre-service or in-service teachers need to reflect on their own experi-ential backgrounds their studentsrsquo identities and levels of academic and language profi-ciency and the classroom contexts and tasks or assignments Reflection helps teachers to look at instructional dilemmas carefully and think about what the English learners bring to the learning tasks Here are some reflective questions using Gordon Lalas and McDermottrsquos learning and teaching framework (2006) Does your student work comfortably by herhimself Does your student enjoy working with others Do you think he or she can work productively with another student Do you think he or she can thrive in group work situations Does your student show eager-ness in solving problems and thinking criti-cally for solutions Do you think he or she is a risk-taker Does your student demonstrate independence in applying the concepts learned in the various subject matter areas Does your student think about consequences of their actions Do you think he or she is able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of his or her performance Knowledge about the students also include specific information related to their linguistic and cultural backgrounds academic language abilities and content knowledge related to subject matter inter-ests and other relevant physical social and emotional development information It is important that pre-service and in-service teachers identify the necessary formal and informal assessment tools that they can use to know who their students are and what knowledge skills and abilities they bring in the classroom

Research-based Adaptation Categories and ProceduresAdaptations are alternative means for English learners to acquire and demonstrate their content knowledge and must compen-sate for the studentsrsquo learning needs A col-league and I from previous studies identified three categories of instructional adaptations based on the responses of preservice teachers on their teaching performance assessment tasks that include instructional planning and teaching classroom organization adaptation instructional presentation adaptation and activating student motivation and response


adaptation (Lalas amp Solomon 2007) Using the list of adaptation activities several expe-rienced inservice teachers implemented les-son plans with adaptation activities Some examples of instructional pre-sentation adaptations are activating prior knowledge building background knowledge of content relating to personal experiences previewing information using advance organizers preteaching vocabulary using K-W-L strategies questioning strategies activate recall summarize outlines cue cards vocabulary glossary simplifying abstract concepts dramatization music guest speakers interactive writing drawing or painting journal entries student ldquothink-aloudsrdquo self-monitoring checklists and many others Some examples of classroom organization adaptations are peer partners cooperative learning groups physical room arrangement seating arrangements or seat assignments lighting material accessibility work space prompting and gesturing and many other classroom adaptive equipment and materials such as lapboard personal computers enlarged print maps and many others Some examples of activating stu-dent response and motivation adaptations that relate to response format and response procedures are completing information organizers data chart illustrations through posters collages or murals journal entries songs poems and raps bulletin board dis-plays extended time practice exercises use of an interpreter shorter or more frequent assessments creating more interest activ-ity choice personally meaningful activities doable tasks choice to work with others student involvement in assessment activities and many other activities that foster confi-dence and comfort Table 1 on the next page identifies the three categories of adaptation activities with

examples of adaptation strategies (Lalas amp Solomon 2007)1 Adaptations can be planned before the pre-sentation of the lesson during the lesson and after the completion of the lesson A simple adaptation planning grid that can be used to lay out the adaptation activities before during and after the lesson can be seen below

Adaptation Pedagogy A Conscious Decision- Making ProcessAdaptation pedagogy is a conscious effort on the part of the pre-service or in-service teachers to be explicit in the academic con-tent standards that their instructional plan is covering specific learning goals addressing the standards assessment and sequence of activities including the different categories of adaptation strategies and student activities Teacherrsquos instructional strategies are the set of activities a teacher does that focuses on input presentation and the instructional pre-sentation and classroom organization catego-ries of adaptation Student activities are the set of activities students do that activate stu-dent response and motivation adaptations Teacher reflection on what English learners can do the academic content cur-riculum his or her own pedagogical skills abilities and dispositions categories of appropriate adaptations and how to manage instruction and monitor students progress plays a valuable role in making purposeful and intentional instructional decisions It is not a mechanical but an intentional pro-cess that involves a deep understanding of the societal factors that influence academic achievement and the dynamic interaction among the teacher the student and the classroom context in the learning process It involves figuring out what the students can and cannot do and their level of comfort

in recognizing their individuality working with others problem-solving demonstrat-ing knowledge and reflecting on their own learning Adaptation pedagogy drives teach-ersrsquo advocacy for the English learners com-mitment to their learning and respect for their well-being

ReferencesAdams M Bell L amp Griffin P (Eds) (1997) Teaching

for diversity and social Justice New York Routledge

Bailey A (Ed) (2007) The language demands of school Putting academic English to the test New Haven and London Yale University Press

Boyle D (1982) Piaget and education a negative evaluation In S and C Modgil (Eds) Jean Piaget Consensus and Controversy (pp 291 ndash 308) London Holt Rinehart and Winston

Brooks J amp Thompson E (2005) Social justice in the classroom Educational Leadership September 2005 48 ndash 52

Brown K (2004) Leadership for social justice and equity Weaving a transformative framework and pedagogy Educational Administration Quarterly 40(1) 77 ndash 108

Cochran-Smith M (2004) Walking the road Race diversity and social justice New York Teachers College Press

Collier M (2005) An ethic of caring The fuel for high teacher efficacy The Urban Review 37(4) 351 ndash 359

Darling-Hammond L amp Baratz-Snowden J (Eds) (2005) A good teacher in every classroom Preparing the highly qualified teachers our children deserve San Francisco CA Jossey-Bass Publishers

Darling-Hammond L amp McLaughlin M (1999) Investing in teaching as a learning profession Policy problems and prospects In L Darling-Hammond amp G Sykes (Eds) Teaching as the learning profession San Francisco CA Jossey-Bass Publishers

Demetriou A Shayer M and Efklides A (Eds) (1992) Introduction In Neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development (pp 1- 7) London Routledge

Echevarria J Richards-Tutor Chinn V amp Ratleff P (2011) Did they get it The role of fidelity in teaching English learners Journal of Adolescent amp Adult Literacy 54 (6) 425 - 434

Echevarria J Vogt M amp Short D (2008) Making content comprehensible for English learners Boston MA Allyn and Bacon

Elmore RF amp Burney D (1999) Investing in teacher learning Staff development and instructional improvement In L Darling-Hammond amp G Sykes (Eds) Teaching as the learning profession Handbook of policy and practice San Francisco CA Jossey-Bass Publishers

Faltis C (Ed) (2011) Introduction teaching in politically socially-situated contexts Teacher Education Quarterly 38 (1) 3 - 5

Adaptation Planning Grid

AdaptationsClassroom Organization

Instructional Presentation AdaptationsActivating Student Motivation

and Response Adaptations

Before instruction

During instruction

After instruction


Gollnick D amp Chinn P (2009) Multicultural education in a pluralistic society Columbus OH Merrill

Gordon R Lalas J amp Mcdermott J C (2006) Omni-education A teaching and learning framework for social justice in urban classrooms Dubuque IA KendallHunt Publishing Company

Gunning T (2010) Creating literacy instruction for all students (7th ed) Boston MA Allyn and Bacon

Guvain M (2001) The social context of cognitive development New York NY The Guilford Press

Hinkel E (Ed) (2011) Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning volume II New York and London Routledge

Howard T (2010) Why race and culture matter in schools Closing the achievement gap in Americarsquos classrooms New York and London Teachers College Press

Kieffer M amp Lesaux N (2010) Morphing into adolescents Active word learning for English-language learners and their classmates in middle school Journal of Adolescent amp Adult Literacy 54(1) 47 ndash 56

Ladson-Billings G (2000) Racialized discourses and ethnic epistemologies In N Denzin amp Y Lincoln (Eds) Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed pp 257 ndash 277) Thousand Oaks CA Sage

Lalas J amp Solomon M (2007) Instructional Adaptation as an equity solution for the English learners and special needs students Practicing educational justice in the mainstream classroom Dubuque IA KendallHunt Publishing Company

Lalas J amp Valle M (2007) Social justice lenses and authentic student voices Enhancing leadership for educational justice Educational Leadership and Administration Teaching and Program Development Fall 2007

Luke A amp Dooley K (2011) Critical literacy and second language learning In E Hinkel (Ed) Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning volume II New York and London Routledge

Marshall C amp Oliva M (2010) Leadership for social justice Making revolutions in education Boston MA Pearson Allyn amp Bacon

Meadows S (2006) The child as a thinker the development and acquisition of cognition in childhood (2nd edition) London Routlege

Michelli N amp Keiser D (Eds) (2005) Teacher education for democracy and social justice New York and London Routledge

Moll L Amanti C Neff D amp Gonzalez (1992) Funds of knowledge for teaching Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms Theory Into Practice 31 (2) 132 -141

Moll L amp Gonzalez (2001) Lesson from research with language-minority Literacy A critical sourcebook Boston MA BedfordSt Martinrsquos

Nieto S (2003) What keeps teachers going New York NY Teachers College Press

Nieto S (2000) Affirming diversity The sociopolitical context of multicultural education NY Longman

Noddings N (1992) The challenge to care in schools New York Teachers College Press Columbia University

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence in children New York WW Norton and Company Inc

Piaget J (1975) The development of thought equilibration of cognitive structures New York The Viking Press

Rodgers CR (2006) ldquoThe turning of onersquos soulrdquo ndash learning to teach for social justice

The Putney Graduate School of Teacher Education Teachers College Record 108(7) 1266 ndash 1295

Ruddell R amp Unrau N (2004) Reading as a meaning-construction process The reader the text and the teacher In R Ruddell amp N Unrau (Eds) Theoretical models and processes of reading Newark DE International Reading Association

Schon DA (1987) Educating the reflective practitioner San Francisco CA Jossey-Bass Publishers

Siegel L and Hodkin B (1982) The garden path to the understanding of cognitive development has Piaget led us into the poison ivy In S and C Modgil (Eds) Jean Piaget Consensus and Controversy (pp 57-82) London Holt Rinehart and Winston

Siegler R and Alibali MW (2005) Childrenrsquos thinking (4th edition) New Jersey Prentice Hall Inc

Stanton-Salazar R (2001) Manufacturing hope and despair NY Teachers College Columbia University

Tremmel R (1993) Zen and the art of reflective practice in teacher education Harvard Educational Review 63 (4)

Trueba E (1999) Latinos unidos From cultural diversity to the politics of solidarity New York Rowman amp LittleField Publishers

Valenzuela A (1999) Subtractive schooling US-Mexican youth and the politics of caring Albany NY State University of New York Press

Vygotsky L (1978) Thought and language Cambridge MA MIT Press

Walqui A (2010) Interview with Aida Walqui Scaffolding success The Journal of Communication amp Education ndash Language Magazine 9 (6) 24 ndash 29

Young T amp Hadaway N (Eds) 2006) Supporting the literacy development of English learners Increasing success in all classrooms Newark DE International Reading Association

Table 1 Types of Adaptation Strategies for the English Language Learners

Classroom Organization Instructional Presentation Activating Student Motivation amp Response

y After schoolbefore school tutoring

y Work one on one in class when time is available

y Provide additional time y EL Paraprofessional assistance

for one on one instruction y Sit with a translator y Elicit Parental support and

cooperation y Place the ELL closer to the

teacher to make sure the materials are clear and directions are heard

y Recognize cultural characteristics and validate themmdashlike the accent and ways of interaction

y Pre-lesson assignment

y Pre-teach amp re-teach y Make learning goals specific y Focus on content and meaning

instead of grammar and spelling in the written work

y The assessment stresses vocabulary

y Daily journals y Modeling y Graphic Organizers y Bubble Cluster y KWL Chart y Provide Spanish vocabulary list y Vocabulary wall in English y Use illustrations to teach

science concepts y Include English development

standards in the content y In an assignment that required

written description the ELL just labels the pictures and orally

y Slow down the pace of teaching to accommodate the ELL

y Make adjustments in journaling activities

y Provide visuals and examples before and during lesson

y Include the EL in student presentations to encourage her develop confidence oral and language skills

y Accept oral answers vs written answers

y Use dialogue and other forms of oral expression to process content ideas and concepts

y Write directions on the board y Allow to do research in

Spanish y Student draws a picture to

illustrate her learning and her thoughts

y Student re-writes rules and explain them in own words

y Allowing student to finish a written report with pictures to represent the learning

y Provide guided practice y Portfolio to record student

learning and monitor progress

y Make adjustment in the assessment cueing to the studentrsquos level of understanding

y Alternative assignment y Personally meaningful group

work y Omit singling out in front of y Reduce number of paragraphs

to a few sentences y Reduce writing requirement y Provide glossary of words

taken from the content to be discussed ahead of time

y Showing samples of assignmentsmdashA simple paragraph

y Reduce writing requirement y Less quantity in assignment y Peer Tutoring y Pairing with bilingual student y Assign homework before and

after a lesson y Provide positive feedback on

written or spoken answers y Teacher as editing service y Translated materials y Modified assignments in

writing y Positive feedback


Scientific Biliteracy A New Perspective and Pedagogical Approach on Science LearningEsther GarzaTexas AampM University-San Antonio

In recent years the United States has experienced an explosive growth in immigra-tion According to the US Census Bureau (2010 p 10) the population of foreign-born immigrants in the United States was 40 million A large percentage about 533 per-

cent of immigrants in the United States were born in Latin America (US Census Bureau 2010) As the number of immi-grants continues to rise in the US the num-ber of students who speak languages other than English or Bilingual Learners (BLs) is expected to increase Following entry into US schools BLs are required to comprehend a multitude of literary information or concepts in English in a relatively short period of time Moreover ldquoELL students must confront the demands of learning through an unmastered languagerdquo (Luykx et al 2007 p 23) This demand is heavily placed on BLs daily in US schools

12 N AB E PERSPECT IVES J A N U A R Y ndash F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2

This is particularly the case in science and mathematics fields in which students are expected to reason and explain academi-cally challenging concepts In this article I contend that BLs studentsrsquo comprehen-sion of science material can be impacted for example by the availability and design of a bilingual education program the teacherrsquos professional development in science approaches and the pedagogical approach employed to teach science Therefore a study of scientific biliteracy was conducted and will be presented in the latter part of this article in order to develop a new per-spective and approach in science learning

Science LiteracyScience education attempts to engage stu-dents in the interpretation and understand-ing of how the world works and attempts to show students how to apply scientific under-standing in and out of the school environ-ment For example the National Research Council (NRC) in conjunction with the National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment compiled the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council 1996) which are descriptions of student outcomes that encourage science literacy for all students Norris and Phillips (as cited in Wallace 2004) define science literacy as ldquothe ability to read and write scientific texts in richly constructed ways and that a scientifically literate person can understand and apply the fundamental elements of scientific argumen-tationrdquo (Wallace 2004 p 902) The National Science Education Standards promote science literacy yet only include a minimal amount of reference that address BLsrsquo needs for comprehensible instruction For example one suggestion by the NRC in reference to BLs was a brief statement encouraging native language use in order to assist in the development of scientific understanding in English Yet as commonly referenced in the literature in addressing culturally and linguistically diverse studentsrsquo needs it is important to affirm the profound relationship that exists between culture and language (Heath 1983 Nieto amp Bode 2008 Zentella 1997) Roth and Barton (2004) argue that language minority students should be allowed the opportunity to use their experiences to address different scientific issues Lee (1999) also concurs with this notion and found

in her work that ldquostudents bring their own ways of looking at the world that are repre-sentative of their social and cultural environ-ments as well as personal experiencesrdquo (p 188) If new research agendas and reform in science are proposed they must also be mutually inclusive of science literacy that incorporates studentsrsquo linguistic and cultural practices and backgrounds Such an emphasis on science literacy is critical since studies have shown that there is an ldquohellipachievement gap between mainstream and non-mainstream students in sciencerdquo (Lee et al 2008 41-42) BLs many of whom are Latino experience large educa-tional achievement gaps across the different grade levels in scientific knowledge when compared to their mainstream counterparts For example in Texas ldquowhere 40 of the population is Latino and the number is slightly higher for the school-age population the 1996 National Assessment in Education Progress reported that 45 of Texas eighth graders were below the basic level in science achievement and of those students 67 of Hispanic eighth graders were below the basic level in science achievementrdquo (Hampton amp Rodriguez 2001 p 418) The low success rate of Hispanic and BLs students in science has resulted in sci-ence literacy becoming an area of specific concern Many researchers and educators are interested in promoting science literacy for all students in an effort to provide the necessary skills to address future scientific

study questions or issues Through new reform movements science educators are attempting to bridge the science achieve-ment gap between mainstream and diverse students in the US while curtailing assess-ment driven instruction The success rates of Hispanics and BLs demonstrate that current instructional approaches are not meeting the needs of all students Research in science literacy must address all learners specifically BLs by integrating the studentsrsquo linguistic and cultural backgrounds within their instruction

Science Literacy in EnglishA growing trend in science education that assists BLs in learning science and the English language is a pedagogical approach known as sheltered instruction that pro-poses ldquoteaching content to ELLs in strategic ways that make the subject matter con-cepts comprehensible while promoting the studentsrsquo English language developmentrdquo (Short 2000 p 20) Though this approach values educatorsrsquo use of the primary lan-guage and research has demonstrated primary language literacy is more benefi-cial with ESL instruction (Harris 1995) science has been a domain in elementary education that has been widely utilized to teach English Typically in grades 4th and 5th BLs are transitioned to an English-only curriculum (Huerta 2005) resulting in an emphasis to promote science literacy in English only

The success rates of Hispanics and BLs

demonstrate that current instructional

approaches are not meeting the needs of

all students Research in science literacy

must address all learners specifically BLs

by integrating the studentsrsquo linguistic and

cultural backgrounds within their instruction


Scientific BiliteracyThe current state of research in science learning from a sociocultural perspec-tive that includes the native language is limited Researchers have only addressed second language proficiency with minimal emphasis on the use of a studentrsquos native language (Lee 2004) or the use of a stu-dentrsquos sociocultural tools (Anderson amp et al 1997) Although these research stud-ies are important in understanding how BLs learn science these studies exclude or fail to emphasize the use of the native language as a strong resource for science instruction These research studies do not take into account a BLrsquos ability to use both languages in the science context and continue their language development (Hornberger 1993) by tapping into their cultural tools to build and maintain their sociocultural and linguistic repertoires of scientific meaning Scientific biliteracy provides students the opportunity to expand these repertoires In order to situate a study that focuses on scientific biliteracy terms such as literacy and biliteracy must be defined Literacy is defined in this context as a ldquoset of cultural practices that includes the encoding and decoding of printhellipthat is used to convey a message that has specific shared meaning for a group of individuals in a particular con-textrdquo (Peacuterez amp Torres-Guzmaacuten 2002 p 4) Peacuterez and Torres-Guzmaacuten (2002) conceived biliteracy to be ldquothe acquisition and learning of the decoding and encoding of and around print using two linguistic and cultural sys-tems in order to convey messages in a vari-ety of contextsrdquo (p 60) Building on these constructs the defini-tion of scientific biliteracy is the study of science through the use of two linguistic and cultural systems that produces scientific understanding for decoding and encoding of science based print Scientific biliteracy emphasizes language and culture as powerful tools to promote scientific understanding

These tools are useful for students to make connections with science concepts and pro-duce scientific reasoning that is informed from a BLrsquos perspective

The StudyThis study provides an insight as to how biliteracy can be used as a tool in develop-ing a new community of practice (Lave amp Wenger 1991) where science is explored in two languages and encompasses the socio-cultural knowledge that grows from our stu-dentsrsquo cultural and linguistic backgrounds The research question for this study was How do 4th-5th grade bilingual education teachersrsquo TSBI (Teacher Scientific Biliteracy Inventory) scores compare with 4th-5th grade general education teachersrsquo TSBI scores

MethodologyIn this mixed methods study a quantita-tive approach was employed using survey research design A survey Teacher Scientific Biliteracy Inventory (TSBI) was admin-istered to investigate BLs teachersrsquo self-reported use of science literacy science bil-iteracy reading comprehension strategy and studentsrsquo cultural backgrounds to enhance science instruction Observations of five teachers were conducted concurrently The TSBI was used as a checklist to observe the five teachers during science lessons in 4th ndash 5th grade bilingual and general education classrooms

ContextObservations for this study were conducted in two schools located in South Texas School A had a total student enrollment of 610 students and was located in a town outside a major urban area School B had an enrollment of 720 students and was located within a large metropolitan city (Texas Education Agency 2008-2009)

ParticipantsThe teachers participating in this study were drawn from a convenience sample which included local school districts in the southernmost part of the US A total of 156 4th ndash 5th grade generalist and bilingual education teachers participated in this study Of these participants 5 teachers and 67 of their respective students agreed to partici-pate in the classroom observational part of the study

FindingsMixed methods provided an understanding that the general education teachers in the study were not trained to utilize a language other than English to teach science and their teaching approach was found to be conducted in a monocultural way However bilingual education teachers are trained to teach content in the studentsrsquo native lan-guage and assist with the development of English Teachers were asked to indicate the language used to teach science on the TSBI using the following item choices English = 2 Spanish = 1 and the use of both languages = 3 The descriptives note that the language indicated by the major-ity of teachers in the study was English M = 2088(452) Moreover twenty-three of the 40 bilingual education teachers in this study self-reported on the TSBI that they teach science in English during science instruction time This resulted in more than 50 percent of bilingual education teach-ers instructing their BLs the majority of science instruction in English and using specific strategies for English literacy devel-opment This approach to teaching science in English by the majority of bilingual education teachers in this study appeared to be influenced by current pedagogical approaches such as sheltered instruction and supported by NRC and National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment reform movements that influence bilingual education teachersrsquo choice in methods to promote science instruction In addition all the teachers in the study self-reported on the TSBI that the professional development workshops that they attended rarely focused on biliteracy development in science However a promising finding in refer-ence to some of the quantitative analyses resulted that approximately 40 percent of bilingual education teachers self-reported that they used science biliteracy strategies In terms of the TSBI observational check-list it was found that scientific biliteracy appeared to enable students to become stra-tegic readers when applying reading com-prehension strategies in two languages Such strategies included predicting and identify-ing word families in two languages The following are a few examples of classroom observations of bilingual education teachers that supported the use of both languages for science instruction gt


Identification of Word Families Ms Zarate a fourth grade bilingual education teacher provided some examples of the properties of minerals since students were studying geology

Ms Zarate Dice (continues to read science text) para parte de la calcita se producen los mares debido a que la agua salada tiene una combinacioacuten de calcio oxigeno y carbono Algunos animales marinos desarrollan con-chas o partes del cuerpo hechas de calcitahellipSe acuerdan cuando hablamos de la conchas okay iquestDe queacute piensan que estaacuten hecho esta [It says that the part of the calcite is produced in the ocean due to the salt water it has a combination of calcite oxygen and carbon Some sea animals develop shells or parts of the body made of calcitehellipRemember how we discussed about sea shells okay What do you think it is made of](Teacher goes to a jar in her created science center to demonstrate and recall the students prior learning shows two shells feels them with her hands and demonstrates the holes in the shells)

Student de plaacutestico [plastic]

Ms Zarate acknowledged the studentrsquos response but clarified her point a bit further by saying

gt PredictingThe following is a short excerpt between a 4th grade

bilingual education teacher and a student during a

science lesson

Ms Benavidez We are learning about adapta-

tionshellipletrsquos connect to those learning experiences

Student 2 Los otros planetas estaacuten rotando

[The other planets are rotating] You could look

at all the planets

Ms Benavidez Letrsquos make a prediction in our

notebook iquestPor queacute la luna cambia de color or

forma [Why does the moon change their color

or shape]

Ms Benavidez Scientists have to predict

explain to me give me your predictions

After Ms Benavidez asked for predictions the

students began writing their predictions in their science

notebooks in English Spanish or both languages

Ms Zarate de calcita no Parece plaacutestico pero no es plaacutestico son minerales Y algunos ani-malitos hacen su casa de calcita que son los mismos minerales de las rocas que estaacuten formadas [From calcite right Seems like its plastic but it is not plastic but it is a mineral And some of the animals make their homes from calcite these are the same minerals that the rocks are being formed]

Since Ms Zarate used the term calcita calcite she quickly provided the students with a reading comprehension strategy in order to comprehend the mineral calcite She used the strategy of scientific word families or associations by making a strong emphasis on the latter part of the word lsquocalciorsquo She stated this in the following wayMs Zarate esa es calcita como calcio [that is calcite like the word calcium] Another finding on the TSBI was that there was no difference in terms of bilingual education and generalist teachers in reference to using their studentsrsquo cultural backgrounds in their science lessons To understand bilingual education and generalist teachersrsquo approaches to including culturally relevant activities in science the following are some examples of the activities suggested by teachers in this study on how they include studentsrsquo cultural backgroundsldquo[To teach] Mixturessolutions- relating certain types of fooddrink they prepare at homerdquoldquoThe curriculum is set by the district so any cultural relevance occurs within the momentrdquoldquoCulturally relevant does not make sense to me We make tortillas but everything is done by allrdquoldquoCurriculum guide activities have differentiated instruction suggestions that are usedrdquoldquoDiscuss family vacations taken at the beach or at a lake for erosion Help them relate to movies and what they have seen on TV in terms with the waves and reenacts the experiment visuallyrdquo These activities were exemplars of culturally relevant lessons that teachers self-reported on the TSBI survey that assisted in learning how teachers address studentsrsquo cultural and linguistic backgrounds


ConclusionsAccording to Lee et al (2008) the school-age population is growing more diverse Culturally and linguistically diverse students make up 42 of the school-age population and demonstrate a high need for improve-ment in science achievement when compared to mainstream students (Lee et al 2008) In this study the quantitative data coupled with the qualitative data reveal that there may be a lack of training in bilingual approaches in science thus professional training in these science practices is warranted In addition depending on the language education program that the teachers in this study were working under appeared to influence the teachersrsquo beliefs about the language used for instruction The teacherrsquos beliefs surfaced in the discourse or language used by the teachers in these classrooms Therefore the language used by the teach-ers for science instruction varied such as teaching in English and Spanish and code-switching but more emphasis was placed on learning English Another major conclusion that resulted from this mixed method study was that teachers created opportunities for students to engage in science using their cultural backgrounds however neither the quantitative or qualitative data analysis revealed a multicultural use of science An implication from this study is that all teachers become aware of the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of their students All pre-service and in-service teachers from sim-ilar cultural and linguistic backgrounds or not can develop culturally relevant pedagogy in science that encourages a bilingual-bicul-tural-biliterate science identity to be formed

Students who have access to science via two languages and cultural systems may have multiple opportunities to engage in science careers and education globally Therefore it is recommended that all teachers develop an awareness that a native language exists for BLs and that it should be cultivated and nurtured for optimal first and second language development In order to further explore this linguistic awareness professional development in scientific biliteracy and collaborations between bilingual education and generalist teachers should be enacted in order to provide some reciprocal training for both groups of teachers Teachers working closely in collaboration with one another can become critical to the development of a scientific biliterate identity for students and can provide the opportunity for success in science and the motivation needed to pursue a future science profession

ReferencesAnderson CW Holland JD amp Palincsar A (1997)

Canonical and sociocultural approaches to research and reform in science education The story of Juan and his group Elementary School Journal 97(4) 359-383

Hampton E amp Rodriguez R (2001) Inquiry science in bilingual classrooms Bilingual Research Journal 25(4) 461-478

Harris J W (1995) Sheltered instruction Bridging the language gap in the science classroom Science Teacher 62(2) 24-27

Heath S B (1983) Ways with words Language life and work in communities and classrooms Cambridge NY Cambridge University Press

Hornberger N amp Micheau C (1993) Getting far enough to like it Biliteracy in the middle school Peabody Journal of Education 69(1) 30-53

Huerta M E (2005) Biliteracy Negotiating reading comprehension across two languages PhD dissertation The University of Texas at San Antonio United States -- Texas Retrieved March 16 2010 from Proquest Dissertations amp Theses University of Texas - San Antonio (Publication No AAT 3166235)

Lave J amp Wenger E (1991) Situated learning Legitimate peripheral participation Cambridge NY Cambridge University Press

Lee O (1999) Science knowledge world views and information sources in social and cultural contexts Making sense after a natural disaster American Educational Research Journal 36(2) 187-219

Lee O (2004) Teacher change in beliefs and practices in science and literacy instruction with English language learners Journal of Research in Science Teaching 41(1) 65-93

Lee O Adamson K Maerten-Rivera J Lewis S Thornton C amp LeRoy K (2008) Teachersrsquo perspectives on a professional development intervention to improve science instruction among English language learners Journal of Science Teacher Education 19(1) 41-67

Luykx A Lee O Mahotiere M Lester B Hart J Deaktor R et al (2007) Cultural and home language influences on childrenrsquos responses to science assessments Teachers College Record 109 (4) 897-926

National Research Council (1996) National science education standards Observe interact change learn Washington DC National Academy Press

Nieto S amp Bode P (2008) Affirming diversity The sociopolitical context of multicultural education Boston MA PearsonAllyn and Bacon

Peacuterez B amp Torres-Guzmaacuten M E (2002) Learning in two worlds An integrated SpanishEnglish biliteracy approach (3rd ed) Boston MA Allyn and Bacon

Roth W M amp Barton A C (2004) Rethinking scientific literacy New York NY Routledge Falmer

Short D J (2000) What principals should know about sheltered instruction for English language learners NASSP Bulletin 84 17-27

Texas Education Agency (2008-2009) Academic Excellence Indicator System Retrieved December 20 2009 from httpritterteastatetxusperfreportaeis

US Census Bureau (2011) The Foreign-Born From Latin America and the Caribbean2010

Retrieved from httpwwwcensusgovprod2011pubsacsbr10-15pdf

Wallace C S (2004) Framing new research in science literacy and language use Authenticity multiple discourses and the ldquothird spacerdquo Science Education 88(6) 901-914

Zentella A C (1997) Growing up bilingual Puerto Rican children in New York Malden MA Blackwell Publishers

Culturally and linguistically diverse students make up 42 of

the school-age population and demonstrate a high need for improvement in science achievement when

compared to mainstream students


Indigenous Bilingual Education

LiteracyLearning Strategies for Teachers of American Indian StudentsR Timothy Rush University of Wyoming

This column presents six culturally com-patible literacy strategies in use by teachers serving Arapaho and Shoshone children of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming These strategies include Reciprocal Teaching (Palincsar 1982) Media Analysis Story Impressions (McGinley amp Denner 1987) Sentence Combining (Strong 2004) and Reverse StoryBoard and Talking Drawings (McConnell 1993) These methods have proven to be effective with American Indian children and youth The methods discussed here have been examined using multiple-baseline across groups design similar to that employed by Palincsar (1982) in her mile-stone study of Reciprocal Teaching

Reciprocal Teaching has been since its creation a small group method Palincsar developed it as a way of teaching poor middle-grade readers four things that good readers domdashpredict summarize ques-tion and critique She used a small-group round-robin process to teach and enable supervised student practice In it the role of teacher passes from one group member to the next as each person performs and talks about each of the four steps Prediction and summarization need no explanation

Questioning requires readers to ask a ques-tion based on what they have read (We say ldquoWhat kind of question would a teacher askrdquo or ldquoAsk a question that might be on the State Testrdquo) ldquoCritiquerdquo means that the reader tells us what was particularly hard confusing or interesting in the paragraph or selection they just read

Media Analysis is a cooperative infor-mation processing method well suited to the culture and experiences of American Indian students It is derived from the List-Group-Label procedure developed by Hilda Taba (1967) and addresses the evidence showing that children derive little from most of the high quality instructional media to which they are exposed in school The method includes

1 Whole class ldquobrainstormingrdquo if informa-tion from a videotape or DVD after it is viewed In this phase the teacher writes (on chalkboard Smart Board or over-head projector) words called out by the class members

2 In phase two small groups of students are asked to arrange all of the words into at least two lists of words that have a common theme

3 Small groups are then asked to label or title each of their lists

4 All students are asked to complete a writing task that causes them to connect the words in each list For example ldquoFor each list write a paragraph that uses all (or some number) of the words in the listrdquo

Media Analysis benefits students in three waysmdashit uses the combined recall of all members of the class it allows consensus to be formed through small group discus-sion and it causes individuals to frame the relationships between concepts through a writing-to-learn activity

Story Impressions (McGinley amp Denner 1987) is a prep-reading collabora-tive method in which students work from a list of words drawn by their teacher from a text that they will read subsequently It is designed to engage students in an assignment by having them use words from it to predict the content of the read-ing selection The teacher creates a list of words from the story that reveal key aspects of the story including setting character names or descriptions plot and


resolution In the case of content area texts students use the technical vocabulary to predict the key concepts and relation-ships between them The students write the passage using these words and phrases The stories are then shared with the group before the actual story is read The proce-dure followed include

1 Students are given the list of words and phrases prepared ahead of time by the teacher

2 Individually or in pairs they are asked to create a short story using the words and phrases in the order they were given

3 The stories are then shared with the class

4 Next the assigned text is read

5 Finally a discussion is held centering on the similarities and differences between the class creations and the real text

6 In content area reading student versions of the assigned reading were used by teachers to clarify and extend the infor-mation in the text

In our research story impressions were done in secondary science and social studies classes Positive effects on com-prehension and learning resulted when students wrote story impressions prior to reading their assignments

Reverse Storyboard is a group method of identifying organizing and

learning information obtained from nearly any source Audio video text or first-hand experiences are possible sources of informa-tion The steps in the process include1 Learners watch a video episode of five to

ten minutes2 After viewing on a four by six inch

index card each learner draws a scene from the episode and writes a caption under it

3 On a chalkboard ledge or table learn-ers arrange their scene card in the same sequence as in the video (Cards depict-ing the same scene are place together side-by-side)

4 Discussion of the sequence occurs natu-rally as the cards but a class or small group summary of the card sequence should be written (In fact the captions make good topic sentences)

Sentence Combining (Strong 2005) is a form of sentence manipulation Since at least the 1970s studies have sug-gested that regular sentence combining experiences help students improve their writing reading listening and speak-ing Our research supports these conclu-sions Significantly we have observed that sentence combining can also enhance learning Sentence Combining requires that students combine several short ker-nel sentences into a single more fluent coherent sentence For example Kernel Sentences could include The dog barked

The barking was at the postman The barking was angry and The barking was loud Two possible combinations of these sentences are ldquoThe dog barked angrily and loudly at the postmanrdquo and ldquoThe angry dog barked at the postman loudlyrdquo In our research when kernel sentences are derived from content area texts the combining experience results in increased learning Our studies involved combining done by individuals and pairs of students in biology and American History texts

Talking Drawings (McConnell 1993) is a method that activates prior knowledge engages learners with the topic to be taught and provides concrete evidence of learning Step-by-step instructions for this method are included at the end of this paper The essentials are

1 Each learner draws a picture that shows what shehe already knows about the topic

2 In pairs learners discuss what they drew and why

3 The new information is presented

4 Learners elaborate or make new drawings showing what they now know

5 Learners discuss the changes and addi-tions to their original drawings

SummaryInformal classroom research shows that these instructional methods enhance the learning of American Indian children especially their reading comprehension Each method is learned through teacher demonstration and practiced in cooperative mutually supportive small-group interaction The group methods seem to transfer to everyday individual prac-tice My colleagues and I continue to examine each of these methods systematically at the secondary and adultoccupational levels

ReferencesMcConnell S (1993) Talking drawings A strategy for

assisting learners Journal of Reading 36(4) 260-269

McGinley W J amp Denner P R (1987) Story impressions A prereadingwriting activity Journal of Reading 31(3) 248-253

Palincsar A M (1982) The quest for meaning from expository text A teacher-guided journey In Reading Comprehension Processes New York Longman

Rush R T (2006) Five steps to effective reading Language Learner 1(3) 10-11

Strong W (2005) Write for insight New York Allyn amp Bacon

Taba Hilda (1967) Teacher s handbook for elementary social studies Reading MA Addison- Wesley

Dr Rush leads Wyoming Indian Schoolsrsquo kindergarteners in the story impressions pre-reading activity about rodeos


As the book Struggling Learners amp Language Immersion Education (2010) indicates one in every ten school-age chil-dren struggle with language andor literacy acquisition with no readily apparent reason and others struggle with autism attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or acquired brain injury Furthermore in most American public schools enroll-ment in an immersion program is optional and no pre-screening is required (at least in the initial grade level) However for both immersion educators and parents research-based accessible resources with respect to lsquostruggling learnersrsquo in immer-sion contexts have been in dire need yet scarcely available The book Struggling learners amp language immersion education by T W Fortune and M R Menke is a remarkable long-awaited contribution to the field of immersion education specifi-cally to immersion educators other school personnel and parents who (potentially) deal with struggling learners (linguistically academically socially-emotionally andor behaviorally) in immersion contexts Publication of the book originated from the annual week-long institute lsquoMeeting the Challenges of Immersion Educationrsquo sponsored by the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University of Minnesota campus in the summers of 2003 and 2004 which together attracted over 70 profes-sionals with experience in language immer-sion education The idea and backbone of

this book were efficaciously spawned from the participantsrsquo questionnaire results dis-cussions and group projects The book is thematically organized into nine chapters each of which is led by key questions many immersion educators must have at one point or another regard-ing struggling learners such as suitability of the program appropriate diagnostic assess-ments appropriate interventions and sup-port etc Opening with the key questions each chapter introduces a real case story by an experienced immersion educator school personnel or parent who shares hisher own experience that relates to the particular challenge posed in the key questions These personal accounts provide the reader with an opportunity to reflect upon hisher own situation as well as to compare contrast and learn from these stories given that each case is unique Afterwards the background infor-mation on the topic and existing up-to-date research findings are provided The research findings which come from multiple disci-plines such as bilingual education special education speech-hearing sciences and lit-eracy education are synthesized in a reader-friendly accessible manner and impartially presented Based on the scientific findings as well as veteran immersion educatorsrsquo recom-mendations the guiding principles to each key question are summarized in brief subse-quent paragraphs These guiding principles play a key role of summary to each chapter by further providing the reader with direc-tions for each challenge the key questions

pose At the end of the chapter copious amounts of useful resources such as websites of relevant professional organizationsprivate sectors teachingassessmentintervention tools downloadable worksheets booksarti-cles etc are gathered and briefly described Furthermore the book includes a glossary of terms and a list of abbreviations and acro-nyms in the beginning of the book as well as an Appendix and a complete list of references at the end of the book There are very few typographical errors throughout the book I cannot stress enough what a remarkable contribution this publication makes to the field of immersion education The authors succeeded in crafting up-to-date research findings on key issues in a reader-friendly manner together with real case stories guid-ing principles and extra useful resources for the reader I would highly recommend this book to every current and future immersion educator and related school personnel (as well as parents) as a lsquomust-readrsquo book without hesitation After reading this book the reader will realize that many types of lsquostruggling learnersrsquo can benefit from immersion educa-tion just as they can from a regular monolin-gual setting if appropriate assessment inter-vention and support are provided

Struggling Learners amp Language Immersion Education Research-based Practitioner-informed Responses to Educatorsrsquo Top Questions

By Shogo Sakurai School of Languages and Cultures Purdue University

Tara Williams Fortune amp Mandy R Menke Minneapolis MN Center for Advanced Research on Language

Acquisition (CARLA) 2010

wwwcarlaumneduresourceshtml

ISBN 978-0-9843996-0-4 (pbk)

Shogo SakuraiSchool of Languages and Cultures Purdue UniversityE-mail ssakuraipurdueeduPhone number 765-532-8555


Because the world is shrinking flattening and

overlappingmdashvirtually of coursemdashthe attributes of a

world-class education for todayrsquos students must include

knowledge skills and abilities for success in a global

workplace and marketplace Government business

community and educational leaders joined together

in 2002 to form the Partnership for 21st Century Skills

whose mission is ldquoto serve as a catalyst to position 21st

century readiness at the center of US K-12 education by

building collaborative partnerships among education

business community and government leadersrdquo (P21

2002) This group began the process of identifying the

learning needs that must be met in todayrsquos classrooms

to prepare students for a worldwide interdependent

and digital future

Asian and Pacific Islander

From Enrichment to Immersion in ChineseMandarin ndash Transforming Public Education for the 21st Century By Sarah Rice Fox San Diego County Office of Education CA


As current events continue to bring these needs for the future into sharp relief the Framework for 21st Century Learning pro-vides a vision to meet them (P21 2005) Todayrsquos students deserve the best in both curricula and instructional practices to develop their brains and human potential through the Framework life and career skills learning and innovation skills (includ-ing critical thinking communication col-laboration and creativity) core subjects with 21st century themes and informa-tion media and technology As Thomas Friedman recently wrote (2012) we are in an ldquohellipera in which globalization and the information technology revolution have dramatically intensified creating a hyper-connected world This is a world in which education innovation and talent will be rewarded more than ever This is a world in which there will be no more ldquodevelopedrdquo and ldquodeveloping countriesrdquo but only HIEs (high-imagination-enabling countries) and LIEs (low-imagination-enabling countries) And this is a world that America is hard-wired to thrive in helliprdquo America is not only hard-wired to thrive as an HIE country we are also uniquely constituted to thrive as a multilingual coun-trymdashpoised to collaborate linguistically eco-nomically scientifically educationally and culturally with all the nations of the world We can do this by maximizing our diverse internal immigrant and indigenous cultural resources while teaming with external part-ners A focus on language development is a perfect fit for schools to develop authentic communication skills along with creativity flexibility problem solving critical thinking and collaboration Polyglot education builds literacy academic achievement and cross-cultural awareness at high levels of profi-ciency in multiple languages simultaneously This is a gift we are now able to give to a growing number of the public school-age population through carefully designed and implemented language immersion programs beginning in the early grades Language and cultural expertise will be as important as science technology engineering and math-ematics for students working and learning in an international environment with col-leagues from all over the world The promising educational program known as language immersion offers this

enriching school experience resulting in students groomed for success in our global marketplace of products processes and ideas While immersion programs in French and Spanish have been common in the US for several decades immersion programs in ChineseMandarin are relatively new and few Chinese immersion programs provide students with the one skill essential to 21st century success that no other educational program does high levels of proficiency in a critical language (M Met personal commu-nication February 7 and 26 2012) These new ChineseMandarin immersion pro-grams place children in an imaginary milieu in the classroom so that they experience being in China through language culture and authentic interactions with their teach-ers classmates and students in China via video technology (L Cheng personal com-munication February 22 2012) An Internet search (beginning with the Mandarin Immersion Parents Council) reveals approximately 75 ChineseMandarin immersion programs in the United States 75 of which are in public schools or pub-lic charter schools Nearly 40 of these programs are located in California and Utah with the remainder sprinkled across 19 other states and the District of Columbia The great majority of these programs are less than ten years old but they appear to be growing vigorously with one school Ying Hua in Minneapolis indicating 75 students

accepted via lottery for next yearrsquos kindergar-tens and 120 applicants on the wait list In San Diego County California two public schools currently offer the ChineseMandarin immersion option Barnard Elementary a ChineseMandarin immersion magnet school in San Diego Unified School District and Riverview Elementary a public school with two strands an international academy for Spanish immersion and a char-ter school strand for Mandarin immersion in Lakeside Union School District Both of the San Diego immersion programs began just a few years ago with ChineseMandarin enrichment classes and grew to offer immersion programs over the course of the past two years and currently offer classes from kindergarten to grade 2 The author has been privileged to observe first-hand the progress made over these two years and to interact with the district site leadership and teacher teams and many of the collaborative partners Both Barnard and Riverview work with the Confucius Institute and the Language Acquisition Resource Center at San Diego State University with support from their district offices and the San Diego County Office of Education through a Mandarin Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant According to Norman Leonard of the Language Acquisition Resource Center at San Diego State University there are multiple challenges

Student calligraphy combined with photos to support a functional language environment at at Riverview Elementary School in Lakeside California


being met at schools such as Barnard and Riverview ldquowhere not only the principalsrsquo leadership is exceedingly strong but the faculty has been carefully selected to ensure that students are engaged in instruction that is deeply informed by language Immersion methodology and where language and culture are acquired simultaneously and synergisticallyrdquo (N Leonard personal com-munication February 23 2012) He also explains the importance of a commitment by the school districts to a K-12 sequence in which students begin their education in the early years in intense language immer-sion classes and continue to receive content instruction in the target language in second-ary school Research shows that students who have acquired a second language outperform other students on all the metrics used to measure student performance ndash Academic Performance Index (API) Advanced Placement (AP) Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) etc Both Barnard and Riverview have raised their scores dramatically in recent years while introducing Chinese immer-sion programs (personal communication February 23 2012) These partnerships seek to bring additional resources and guidance as the schools continue to grow Another ele-ment of interest in both schools is their partnerships with schools in China and Taiwan Students from sister schools

(sponsored through organizations such as the Confucius Institute and Amity Institute in San Diego) travel to visit each other and be immersed in their respective cultures Additional partnerships formed with the business community will provide financial and cultural support to these top-perform-ing schools (N Leonard personal commu-nication February 23 2012) Barnardrsquos program began in September 2007 as an enrichment magnet program Today it is poised to evolvemdashas indi-cated in a District Board of Education Resolution ( dated December 2011) shared by Edward Park principalmdashinto a K-12 Pacific Rim Language Academy offering immersion programs in ChineseMandarin and perhaps Korean Vietnamese Spanish and Filipino (E Park personal commu-nication February 21 2012) Barnardrsquos Mandarin program is a one-way dual lan-guage immersion model with few if any heritage speakers currently enrolled In kindergarten 80 of the instructional day is delivered in ChineseMandarin with a 20 English language arts block in a dif-ferent classroom with a different teacher to emphasize the separation of languages First grade adds more English to 30 and second grade goes to 5050 daily with language arts math social studies and music in ChineseMandarin and language arts math reinforcement science health

computer literacy in English The plan is for third through sixth grades to maintain the 5050 model in subsequent years In 2006 the school was suffering from declin-ing enrollment so the magnet program was begun after a district administrator visited China as part of the summer China Bridge Delegation of 2007 sponsored by The College Board (administrator of Advanced Placement examinations) and Hanban a Chinese public institution affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education and now the headquarters of the Confucius Institute (Gao 2007) The school was funded with a 2007 Magnet Schools Assistance Program grant from the federal government whose July 2011 newsletter The Magnet Compass reported ldquoThe school has dramatically improved since then In terms of reading the percentage of second-graders scoring proficient or above increased from 28 in 2006-07 to 69 in 2008-09 The schoolrsquos Academic Performance Index also increased by nearly 180 points one of the largest gains in San Diego County Barnard was named a California Distinguished School and recently received the Title I Academic Achievement Award for 2011 from the California Department of Educationrdquo (US Department of Education 2011) Enrollment has also risen by 80 from 152 students in the 2006-07 school year to 275 students in 2010-11 These 275 students represent ethnic diversity as follows Latino (40) Asian (65) FilipinoPacific Islander (55) White non-Hispanic (9) multiple ethnicities (39) and less than 1 American Indian (California Department of Education 2012a) Similarly Riverviewrsquos immersion school developed from a Mandarin enrichment or Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) program However Riverviewrsquos immersion experience began with a one-way Spanish dual language immersion model in 2006 By 2009 this program had reversed the declining enroll-ment (from 301 students in 2005-06 to 500 students in 2010-11) of the school and 50 of the students were matriculat-ing from outside the district boundaries Riverviewrsquos Mandarin immersion program follows a different model from Barnardrsquos although it is also a one-way program with few heritage speakers currently enrolled Riverviewrsquos one-way program is a 5050

A second grader practices recognition of Chinese characters by assembling radicals with the appropriate root forms


dual language model with the 50 accom-plished by alternating days Students are immersed in ChineseMandarin all day one day for all class subjects and rotate into another classroom with a team-teacher for instruction in English all day the next As a third language Spanish language enrich-ment begins in kindergarten and continues through 2nd grade with formal Spanish instruction (3 times per week) starting in the 3rd grade Last yearrsquos 500 students represent more diverse demographic cat-egories than the 835 Caucasian listed in the 2010 US Census for Lakeside The ethnic breakdown of Riverviewrsquos 2005-06 enrollment was Latino (206) American Indian (19) Asian (6) FilipinoPacific Islander (22) Black (28) White non-Hispanic (699) and multiple ethnicities (19) (California Department of Education 2012a) but now is more diverse evidenced by the 2010-11 data Latino (35) American Indian (2) Asian (15) FilipinoPacific Islander (1) White non-Hispanic (56) and multiple ethnicities (2) (California Department of Education 2012b) Olympia Kyriakidis Riverviewrsquos principal shares that parents were so impressed with the benefits of bilingualism for their children that they approached the district about introducing a third language as enrichment for their 3rd through 5th grad-ers (personal communication February 21 2012) Concurrently an opportunity to be part of a ChineseMandarin Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant through the federal government arose with the San Diego County Office of Education to support the development of the new enrichment program Now each year since 2010 an enrichment teacher has moved into a new immersion position making the enrichment program a teacher pipeline for the program The schoolrsquos vision is for both one-way immersion programs Spanish and ChineseMandarin to provide enrichment to each otherrsquos students K-5 permit-ting these fortunate students to develop proficiency in English and two other lan-guagesmdashtruly an ldquoEnglish Plusrdquo opportu-nity As at Barnard Riverviewrsquos test scores have followed expectations suggested by the research literature on immersion programs The Riverview International Academy is outperforming the district average the

county average and the state average on standardized tests in English according to the schoolrsquos 2011 School Accountability Report Card (California Department of Education 2012b) The Mandarin strand is fully expected to follow suit In both cases the school community and edu-cational leadership teams at the site and district levels worked together diligently to build along with partners and cheerlead-ers such as the Confucius Institute the Language Acquisition Resource Center at San Diego State University and the San Diego County Office of Education ChineseMandarin immersion programs that lead to cross-cultural competence bi- and multi-literacy and high academic achievement in both English and ChineseMandarin by the fifth grademdashbefore most American students have even had the opportunity to begin the study of even a first world language in addition to English Language immersion programs are proven over several decades to result in high academic achievement and pro-ficiency in two languages What a mag-nificent gift for these ChineseMandarin immersion students one that will enable high levels of imagination for our society and one that will be available to all our students when we transform K-12 public education through dual language immer-sion education

ReferencesCalifornia Department of Education (2012a) School

Enrollment and Ethnicity Dataquest Retrieved from httpdqcdecagovdataquestSchEnraspTheName=Riverview+ElementaryampcSelect=RIVERVIEW^ELEMENTARY--LAKESIDE^UNION^--3768189-6038384ampcChoice=SchEnrEthampcYear=2005-06ampcLevel=SchoolampcTo-pic=EnrollmentampmyTimeFrame=Sampsubmit1=Submit

California Department of Education (2012b) Ethnicity and Time series ndash public school enrollment [Data sets] Dataquest Retrieved from httpdqcdecagovdataquest

Focusing on global education (2011 July) The Magnet Compass A Publication of the Magnet Schools Assistance Program Technical Assistance Center (1)3 U S Department of Education

Framework for 21st Century learning (2011) P21 - Partnership for 21st Century Skills Retrieved from httpwwwp21orgoverviewskills-framework

Friedman T L (2012 February 11) We need a second party New York Times

Gao H (2007 August 22) Local parents see language as important for children San Diego Union-Tribune

Lakeside Union School District (2012) Riverview Elementary School Accountability Report Card (SARC) for 2010-2011 Retrieved from httplakesideschoolwisepresscomhomesiteaspxentity=21474ampyear=2011)

Light J (2011 January 18) Languages needed but no plans to learn The Wall Street Journal

2012-13 lottery results (2012) Yinghua Academy Chinese Immersion School Retrieved from httpwwwyinghuaacademyorg

U S Census (2010) Retrieved from httpwwwzip-codescomzip-code92040zip-code-92040-2010-censusasp

US amp beyond (List of Mandarin immersion schools) Mandarin Immersion Parents Council Retrieved from httpmiparentscouncilorgus-schools

Sarah (ldquoSallyrdquo) Rice Fox is a coordina-

tor in the English Learner and Support

Services unit of the Learning Resources

and Educational Technology division of

the San Diego County Office of Education

A former bilingual teacher in a Spanish

English transitional bilingual education

program and resource teacher at a two-way

Spanish immersion school in San Diego

Sally is a certified trainer for Project GLAD

(Guided Language Acquisition Design) and

also provides professional development

approved by the California Commission on

Teacher Credentialing in SDAIE (Specially

Designed Academic Instruction in English)

She currently coordinates a Mandarin FLAP

(Foreign Language Assistance Program)

grant encompassing four schools in San

Diego (see httpmandarinsdcoenet)

Language immersion programs are proven

over several decades to result in high academic

achievement and proficiency in two languages


Save the Date

42nd A N N U A L C O N F E R E N C EFebruary 5-9 Orlando FloridaCoronado Springs Resor t

Watch for updates at wwwnabeorgconferencehtml

Reach Thousands of Bilingual Education Professionals Advertise in NABErsquos PerspectivesPerspectives a publication of the National Association of Bilingual Education is read by nearly 20000 educators and administrators These readers possess significant purchasing power Many are responsible for procuring the full range of educational materials products and services for use in linguistically and culturally diverse learning environments

To reserve your space simply fill out the contract (available online at httpwwwnabeorgpublicationshtml) and fax it to 240-450-3799 Call 202-450-3700 if you have any questions

Take advantage of this great opportunity to increase your revenue and advertise in Perspectives

A

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13 page BampW225 x 10 or

4875 x 4875

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Full page ColorNo Bleed 75 x 10 orBleed 8625 x 11125

(trims to 8375 x 10875)Live content 14 from trim

E

Perspectives is published in six issues each year according to the following schedule of publi-cationmailing dateIssue 1 JanuaryFebruaryIssue 2 MarchAprilIssue 3 MayJuneIssue 4 JulyAugustIssue 5 SeptemberOctoberIssue 6 NovemberDecember

All advertising material must be received in the NABE office on the 15th of the month prior to the issue date For example for the MayJune issue ad materials are due by April 15

Perspectives Advertising RatesFull Page BampW (A) $85023-Page BampW (B) $70012-Page BampW (C) $55013-Page BampW (D or E) $425 14-Page BampW (F) $375 Full Page Color Ad (G Inside Covers Only) $2000 Please call for availability of inside cover color ad space

Save with multiple insertions2-3 insertions 10 off 4-5 insertions 15 off 6 insertions 20 off

Contributing to PerspectivesGUIDELINES FOR WRITERSNABEs Perspectives is published six times a year on a bimonthly basis We welcome well written and well researched articles on subjects of interest to our readers While con-tinuing to address issues facing NABE mem-bers Perspectives aims to meet the growing demand for information about bilingual education programs and the children they serve It is a magazine not only for veteran educators of Bilingual and English language learners but also for mainstream teachers school administrators elected officials and interested members of the public

Articles for Perspectives must be original concise and accessible with minimal use of jargon or acronyms References charts and tables are permissible although these too should be kept to a minimum Effective articles begin with a strong ldquoleadrdquo paragraph that entices the reader rather than assuming interest in the subject They develop a few themes clearly without undue repetition or wandering off on tangents

The Perspectives editors are eager to receive manuscripts on a wide range of topics related to Bilingual and English learner programs including curriculum and instruction effectiveness studies professional development school finance parental involvement and legislative agendas We also wel-come personal narratives and reflective essays with which readers can identify on a human as well as a professional level

Researchers are encouraged to describe their work and make it relevant to practitioners Strictly academic articles however are not appropriate for Perspectives and should be sub-mitted instead to the Bilingual Research Journal No commercial submissions will be accepted

TYPES OF ARTICLESEach issue of Perspectives usually contains three or four feature articles of approximately 2000 ndash 2500 words often related to a central theme

Reviews are much shorter (500 ndash 750 words in length) describing and evaluating popular or professional books curriculum guides

textbooks computer programs plays movies and videos of interest to educators of English language learners Manuscripts written or spon-sored by publishers of the work being reviewed are not accepted Book reviews and articles should be emailed to

Dr Joseacute Agustiacuten Ruiz-Escalantejare21yahoocom

Columns are Asian and Pacific Islander Education and Indigenous Bilingual Education (If you have other ideas for a regular column please let us know) These articles are somewhat shorter in length (1000 ndash 1500 words and should be emailed to one of the editors below

Asian and Pacific Islander Education Dr Clara C Park claraparkcsunedu

Indigenous Bilingual EducationDr Jon Allen Reyhner jonreyhnernauedu

PREPARING ARTICLES FOR SUBMISSIONManuscripts to be considered for the MarchApril issue must be received by February 15 Manuscripts to be considered for the MayJune

issue must be received by April 15 Reference style should conform to Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed) Articles and reviews should be submit-ted electronically to NABE Editor Dr Joseacute Agustiacuten Ruiz-Escalante at jare21yahoocom in a Microsoft Word file 11 point Times New Roman double-spaced Be sure to include your name affiliation e-mail address phone and fax numbers

Photographs and artwork related to the manu-script are encouraged Please include the name of the photographer or source along with notes explaining the photos and artwork and written permission to use them Photographs should be submitted as separate TIFF or JPEGJPG files not as images imported into Microsoft Word or any other layout format Resolution of 300 dpi or higher at actual size preferred a minimum pixel dimension of 1200 x 1800 is required (Images copied from a web page browser display are only 72 dpi in resolution and are generally not accept-able) When in doubt clean hard-copy images may be mailed for scanning by our design staff



NAT IONAL OFF ICE



Telephone (240) 450-3700

Fax (240) 450-3799




EDITOR


ASSOCIATE EDITORS









DESIGN amp LAYOUT

WINKING FISH








Cover Story






Departments





Contents




W (940) 565-2933 or (940) 391-4800F (940) 565-4952

rossanaboyduntedu







W (956) 381-3629 F (956) 384-9221H (956) 467-9505







H (956) 289-8106-6696jare21yahoocom






Northridge CA 91330-8265W (818) 677-2500 F (818) 366-2714

claraparkcsunedu



New York NY 10003W (212) 998-5195 F (212) 995-4198




jcruzraolcom








Best regards




COVER STORY

































































Before instruction

During instruction

After instruction












































































































science lesson





at all the planets




or shape]


























































































ISBN 978-0-9843996-0-4 (pbk)

















and digital future



















































Save the Date





NAT IONAL OFF ICE



Telephone (240) 450-3700

Fax (240) 450-3799




EDITOR


ASSOCIATE EDITORS









DESIGN amp LAYOUT

WINKING FISH








Cover Story






Departments





Contents




W (940) 565-2933 or (940) 391-4800F (940) 565-4952

rossanaboyduntedu







W (956) 381-3629 F (956) 384-9221H (956) 467-9505







H (956) 289-8106-6696jare21yahoocom






Northridge CA 91330-8265W (818) 677-2500 F (818) 366-2714

claraparkcsunedu



New York NY 10003W (212) 998-5195 F (212) 995-4198




jcruzraolcom








Best regards




COVER STORY

































































Before instruction

During instruction

After instruction












































































































science lesson





at all the planets




or shape]


























































































ISBN 978-0-9843996-0-4 (pbk)

















and digital future



















































Save the Date






W (940) 565-2933 or (940) 391-4800F (940) 565-4952

rossanaboyduntedu







W (956) 381-3629 F (956) 384-9221H (956) 467-9505







H (956) 289-8106-6696jare21yahoocom






Northridge CA 91330-8265W (818) 677-2500 F (818) 366-2714

claraparkcsunedu



New York NY 10003W (212) 998-5195 F (212) 995-4198




jcruzraolcom








Best regards




COVER STORY

































































Before instruction

During instruction

After instruction












































































































science lesson





at all the planets




or shape]


























































































ISBN 978-0-9843996-0-4 (pbk)

















and digital future



















































Save the Date




COVER STORY

































































Before instruction

During instruction

After instruction












































































































science lesson





at all the planets




or shape]


























































































ISBN 978-0-9843996-0-4 (pbk)

















and digital future



















































Save the Date
























































Before instruction

During instruction

After instruction












































































































science lesson





at all the planets




or shape]


























































































ISBN 978-0-9843996-0-4 (pbk)

















and digital future



















































Save the Date













































































































science lesson





at all the planets




or shape]


























































































ISBN 978-0-9843996-0-4 (pbk)

















and digital future



















































Save the Date




















































































ISBN 978-0-9843996-0-4 (pbk)

















and digital future



















































Save the Date

















and digital future



















































Save the Date


















































Save the Date



Adaptation Pedagogy for English Learners in Multicultural Contexts

Documents

Transcript of Adaptation Pedagogy for English Learners in Multicultural Contexts