Kathy Escamilla

English Language Learners: Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners—Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth

Based on concerns about the increasing numbers of English Language Learners in U.S. schools and the documented academic underperformance of this group, particularly in the domain of literacy, the federal government provided funding for a panel of experts to synthesize the knowledge base in the field and provide recommendations for future research. In 2006, the long awaited and much heralded Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth was published in a book entitled Developing Literacy in Second Language Learners (August & Shanahan, 2006). The purpose of this essay review is to describe the contents of this volume, and to examine it through the dual lenses of theory and policy.

Rethinking the “Gap” High-Stakes Testing and Spanish-Speaking Students in Colorado

This article challenges the pervasive notion that linguistic and ethnic diversity are causes of the perceived gap in achievement in schools highly affected by Spanish-speaking students participating in programs of bilingual education. The study examines existing data from the state of Colorado with regard to student achievement and compares these data to teacher and policy maker perceptions about Latino Spanish-speaking students and bilingual education programs. Results indicate that teachers and policy makers largely adhere to the notion that there is a gap in achievement between Spanish-speaking students and other Colorado students and that language in particular is a problem. Student-achievement data from the Colorado Student Assessment Program, however, indicate that Spanish speakers in English-language acquisition/bilingual classrooms are among the highest performing students in their schools. Furthermore, findings from this study challenge teacher educators and teachers to be more critical in interpreting the results from high-stakes tests.

The Sociolinguistic Environment of a Bilingual School: A Case Study Introduction

Abstract Currently, much of the literature on school reform and renewal cites the need to look at reform from the level of the school as unit. Therefore, it is necessary to study programs such as bilingual programs in the context of the larger school environment in which they exist. The larger school context can greatly impact what goes on in bilingual classrooms within the school. This study reports the results of a case study of a school that labels itself as a “bilingual school”. The study examines and describes language use in bilingual classrooms in the school and language use in the larger school environment outside of the classroom. The study asserts that if bilingual programs are to be places where children truly become bilingual and biliterate, then the environment outside of the classroom must encourage and support the use of two languages with the same enthusiasm as the environment inside bilingual classrooms. Further, each language must have the same status outside the classroom in a bilingual...

Struggling Reader or Emerging Biliterate Student? Reevaluating the Criteria for Labeling Emerging Bilingual Students as Low Achieving

Data systems that use monolingual language frameworks to understand the reading achievement of third-grade students provide inadequate information about emerging bilingual (EB) learners. The authors of this research study apply two competing ideologies (parallel monolingualism and holistic bilingualism) to interpret one set of data. Their findings demonstrate that the same set of scores tells an entirely different story depending on the frames of reference and that these differences are statistically significant. Specifically, they use their analyses to problematize the impact of the Colorado Basic Literacy Act (CBLA) on the categorization of third-grade EB learners. Generalizing from the Colorado data, the authors consider the implications of their findings in a national context of increasing numbers of bilingual learners. Finally, they offer suggestions for site-based school district responses and broader state level policy implications by highlighting one school district’s response to their findings.

Preparing Culturally Responsive Teachers: Using Latino Children's Literature in Teacher Education

The disparity between the ethnic and cultural makeup of our teaching force and the ethnic and cultural makeup of the student population demands initiatives on the part of teacher preparation programs. Preservice teachers need to learn about the various cultures of their students in order to increase communication and understanding. As preservice teachers learn about and come to understand culturally diverse students, they move toward becoming culturally responsive teachers. Through the use of ethnic childrens literature and focused discussion in field experience seminars, preservice teachers increased their background knowledge about Latino childrens lives and began to make connections with the students themselves.

Changing Teachers' Perceptions about the Writing Abilities of Emerging Bilingual Students: Towards a Holistic Bilingual Perspective on Writing Assessment.

This study explored the application of a holistic bilingual view to assess the writing of emerging bilingual children. The study is part of a 5-year longitudinal research and intervention project that explores the biliteracy development of Spanish–English emerging bilingual students who are receiving instruction in both languages. Participants included 36 bilingual teachers who were part of the project. Teachers evaluated student writing samples using a writing rubric developed for the project. They were trained to evaluate students’ Spanish and English language writing samples in a manner that allowed for cross-language comparison and analysis. A total of 216 writing samples produced by students from grades 1–5 were analyzed. Findings from this study suggest the need to train teachers to evaluate the writing of emerging bilingual children in ways that both challenge and expand on their current frames of reference. This paper posits that the utilization of a holistic bilingual lens to evaluate the writing of Spanish–English emerging bilingual children is a more robust and valid means of understanding language and biliteracy development in these children. Furthermore, a holistic bilingual lens can be useful in changing teacher perceptions about childrens biliteracy, thereby enhancing instruction.

Breaking the Code: Colorado's Defeat of the Anti-Bilingual Education Initiative (Amendment 31)

Abstract On November 5, 2002, Colorado voters gave Ron Unz and his anti-bilingual, English-immersion amendment (Amendment 31) its first defeat. On the same night, Question 2, a sister initiative in Massachusetts, passed by a wide margin. What happened in Colorado that enabled advocates for bilingual education and parent choice to prevail when those in other states could not? This study analyzes events from 2000 to 2002, during which time several English-only initiatives were proposed and defeated. Not only did Colorado voters defeat Amendment 31 in November 2002, but advocates in Colorado have defeated anti-bilingual initiatives no fewer than four times over the past 2 years. This article chronicles events, activities, and organizational developments that have contributed to the defeat of these anti-bilingual, anti-family, and anti-education proposals. Methods used in this analysis include informal interviews, document analysis, and expert interpretation. The study offers 10 findings in the form of “lessons learned” over the past 2 years that collectively contributed to the defeat of Amendment 31. The defeat of Amendment 31 in Colorado provides hope and evidence that Ron Unz, and others of his ilk, can be defeated. At the same time, the study ends on a cautionary note, for although a battle has been won, the war to protect the rights of children and their families rages on.

Mexican Immigrants in U.S. Schools: Targets of Symbolic Violence

The largest immigrant group in the United States is from Mexico. Although attitudes toward immigrants have tended to be negative throughout the 20th century, attitudes and beliefs about Mexican immigrants have increasingly become hostile. Those societal views are mirrored in school culture. In this article, we illustrate this hostility by describing critical incidents involving teacher candidates in a teacher preparation program, Mexican immigrant children, and educators. We analyze the incidents as examples of symbolic violence and coded language targeted at Mexican immigrants and their children. We conclude that this problem must be addressed in explicit and direct ways and that schools and universities have a responsibility to provide a just and equal education for all children including Mexican immigrants.

A Biographical Perspective on Chicano Educational Success.

The lack of educational success among Latinos has been the focus of much research concerned with identifying factors contributing to school failure. However, some Latinos do achieve educational success and receive college degrees. Their lives can serve as case studies of minority educational success. This study used autobiographical and interview data to construct the life histories of two Chicanos in order to examine their interpretations of their educational experiences and the sociocultural factors which they identified as influencing those experiences. An additional purpose was to provide detailed biographical information which is currently not available on educationally successful Chicanos. A biographical perspective provides a counterbalance to perceptions of the role of sociocultural factors such as ethnicity in the education of minorities which view them as static or unproblematic. When examined within the contexts of lives that undergo transitions across biographical time, the influence of sociocultural factors such as ethnicity is shown to vary and to require an examination of their impact that shifts across educational careers.

English Acquisition by Fluent-and Limited-Spanish-Proficient Mexican Americans in a 3-Year Maintenance Bilingual Program

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the longitudinal impact of a maintenance bilingual education (MBE) program on the development of English (L2) for four groups of native Spanish-speaking students with varying degrees of Spanish oral proficiency who were all limited English proficient (LEP). Program participants were Mexican-American children in grades K-2. These subjects were divided into two major study groups, those considered fluent Spanish proficient (FSP; n = 111) and those who were limited Spanish proficient (LSP; n = 187). Two subgroups selected from the major groups (FSP program participants who were most fluent in Spanish, n = 45, and LSP participants who were most limited, n = 120) were also analyzed. Changes in L2 proficiency for the two major groups and the two subgroups were examined over the same 3-year span (1984-1987). Overall results from this MBE study demonstrated acquisition of statistically significant levels of English for all subjects. The most significant development was found for those subjects who were most limited in Spanish proficiency at the kindergarten level.