Search

This bilingual education program involved (1) bilingual classes in grades 1 through 4 in 2 Texas school districts (Harlandale and San Marcos) and (2) Southwest Texas State University, which served as the agency for training senior student teachers for bilingual education. Predominantly Spanish-speaking students from low socioeconomic backgrounds were taught in Spanish while English competence was being developed, thus making these students literate in 2 languages. Pride in the Mexican American heritage was also instilled. Curriculum guides for grades 1-4 and materials for Spanish language arts and social studies were created; methods to improve teacher and aide performance were used; community involvement was increased; project coordination was improved; and comprehensive evaluation of pupil and teacher performance was accomplished. It is recommended that there be special college preparation for teachers of bilingual education. (Author/JH)

The Bilingual Education Program for 1969-70 was evaluated in this report. The program consisted of 1,220 Mexican American pupils in grades 1-3 in Harlandale Independent School District, San Marcos Independent School District, and St. John's Catholic School in San Marcos. Its primary objective was to provide a learning situation to meet the special needs of children who speak limited English and whose dominant language is Spanish. Its goal was to help the child achieve normal educational progress by third grade. The program involved 5 components: curriculum development, instruction, teaching improvement, community involvement, and project coordination. Specific objectives for each component, participants, measuring devices, and an analysis of data obtained were presented. Tabular data covered teachers, schools, and pupils; C.A. and I.Q. scores for first grade; Metropolitan Achievement Test Scores in English language arts and math; attendance percentages; comparisons of Inferred Self-Concept Judgment Scale results; and teachers' rating. Appendices included sample rating scales and questionnaires, parents' comments, and a sample lesson from a first grade social studies unit. (NQ)

This study guide for teaching English as a second language is intended to be used as an individualized in-service training unit for teachers and prospective teachers in bilingual education programs. It contains 12 lesson plans which deal with consonants, vowels, intonation, morphology, syntax, sound systems, self-evaluation, and lexicon. Included is a discussion of additional methods for teaching English as a second language. (SK)

Bilingual classes in grades K-5 in the San Marcos and Harlandale (Texas) school districts comprise this bilingual education program. Most of the pupils come from Spanish-speaking homes with low socioeconomic-educational background; however, a certain proportion of the San Marcos pupils are Anglos. Program objectives include preventing educational retardation in the Mexican American child by teaching him in Spanish while competence in English is being developed to the point where it is sufficient to carry the educational burden, endowing him with literacy in 2 languages, and instilling in him knowledge of and pride in his heritage. Objectives for the Anglo child include broadening his outlook and developing in him an appreciation of multicultural contributions to our society. The evaluation design includes use of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Spanish and English version), the Metropolitan Achievement Tests, and the Spanish Serie Interamericana Reading Tests, as well as local tests of behavioral objectives stated in the curriculum guides. The test results are presented in tabular form. Teacher and teacher-aide evaluation measures include pretests and posttests for preservice and inservice training, verbal interaction analyses, and rating forms completed by coordinators, principals, and teachers. Eighteen recommendations are specified at the end of this report. The appendix consists of samples of the evaluation forms used. Related documents are ED 023 508 and ED 026 158. (NQ)

This presentation discusses student-to-student academic adjustment counseling, presently employed and initiated at Southwest Texas State University. Since available research results indicate the conventional pre-college orientation program is not meeting the academic adjustment needs of beginning freshmen, Southwest Texas designed a program utilizing a team of peer counselors and including the following essential elements: (1) formulation of meaningful peer counseling goals; (2) development of informed peer counseling support; (3) delineation of realistic peer counseling activities; (4) provision of adequate peer counseling facilities; (5) selection and training of peer counseling personnel; (6) coordination of peer counseling activities; and (7) evaluation and revision of peer counseling effort. Essential to its adoption on other college campuses are four essential characteristics: (1) it is economical in financial and personnel costs; (2) it is acceptable to both students and faculty; (3) it is effective in both study behavior and improvement in grade average; and (4) it is practical as regards necessary facilities and required supervision. (Author/TA)

This paper indicates the necessity for clinicians, especially Anglo-American clinicians, who provide services to individuals from the Puerto Rican population, to be conscious of their possible prejudice toward them; they should also be aware of the negative attitude which frequently occurs on the part of the patient. It is crucial that clinicians be sensitized to the culturally-based attitudes and beliefs prevalent among Puerto Ricans and to their healthy, as well as pathological, dispositions. Finally, when it is necessary to interview the patient in English, the clinician must be aware of the effects of the language on the content of the verbal productions of the patient and should evaluate any cues carefully before deeming them indicators of psychopathology. (Author)

The final audit report (1972)73) on the Bilingual Education Program of the San Marcos Independent School District critiques the quality of the project and the audit. The 5 sections of the audit are: (1) introductory and general comments on the quality of the project evaluation and the comparative findings of the project evaluation and the audit; (2) detailed critique of the product, process, and management evaluation for each component, based on an assessment of the instruments used, data collection procedures, data analysis techniques, and data analysis presentation; (3) description of the auditor's on-site findings and their correlation with the evaluator's data and reports, summary of consistencies and discrepancies, and interpretation of discrepancies; (4) recommendations for evaluation design revisions with a rationale for each; and (5) confirmation or questioning of the need for program modifications proposed in the project evaluation. (For related document, see RC 007 264.) (NQ)

The San Marcos Independent School District's Bilingual Education Program for 1972-73 was evaluated in this report. The program consisted of 684 students in grades K-5 in 4 elementary schools. The majority of these students were Mexican American with only 18% monolingual English speakers. The program's objectives were, first, to provide bilingual education for pupils who have limited English speaking ability and, second, to give English speakers the opportunity to become bilingual and to broaden their outlook and understanding of other people. The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, in both English and Spanish, was administered to students in grades K-1 in September and again in March. The Metropolitan Readiness Test, Form A, was also given in kindergarten while the Metropolitan Achievement Test was given in grades 1-5. Also used was the Inter-Americana Spanish reading test, the Prueba de Lectura. Educational achievement for the students improved to some extent throughout the year. Tabular data covered teachers, schools, and pupils; dropouts; results of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, the Metropolitan Achievement Test, and the Pruebra de Lectura and inferred Self-Concept Judgment Scale results. The appendix gives the Spanish versions of the Peabody Test. (For related document, see RC 007 265.) (NQ)

To investigate procedures whereby schools may achieve maximal results with otherwise normal underachieving pupils with neurologically based language-learning disorders, 100 such subjects were studied over a 2-year period. Fifty experimental subjects remained in regular classes in school and received individualized teaching outside of school hours from specially trained clinicians. Fifty matched control subjects were enrolled in special education classes and did not receive clinical teaching after school. Half of the experimental and half of the control subjects had anticonvulsive medication prescribed by their physicians; the others did not. Tests of academic achievement and mental functioning indicated that the experimental groups made significantly greater gains in both variables than did the control. However, the medicated groups did not make greater gains than the unmedicated. (Author)

This job corps center program is designed for male school drop outs from low socioeconomic backgrounds and ages 16 through 21 years, whose entrance test scores reveal marked deficiencies in reading. Three thousand of the dropouts were enrolled in a foundation reading program designed to advance skills sufficiently for the students to take advanced vocational classes. The reading program had the following impact during 1967-68. The 1967 enrollee spent 3.9 months in the program, gaining one to two months in vocabulary development and three and one-half to four months in reading comprehension for each month spent in the program. The 1968 enrollee gained five to seven months in vocabulary development and five to 12 months in reading comprehension for each month he studied in the program. The discrepancy in results may be due to either the superiority of the 1968 program or biased data due to incomplete results for 1968. The key elements in the success of the program appear to be the diagnosis of reading deficiencies, the individualization of instruction, the multi-media approach, the observed high motivational level of students, and the teamwork of skillful staff members. (JM)

A social-emotional development program was undertaken in grades 1 through 6 in a project designed to improve the classroom climate for Spanish speaking children, and to improve channels of communication between cooperating teachers, student teachers, and college supervisors. Under the guidance of cooperating teachers, student teachers presented 30-minute video-taped teaching demonstrations. The 3 groups evaluated the demonstrations on differentiation, social organization, initiative, content, variety, competency, climate-teacher, and climate-pupil. There were significant differences in ratings on all dimensions except content. There were also differences in pre-conference and post-conference ratings by the same individuals. Recommendations for further study included: effects of verbal behavior relationships of students and teachers; creation of a better learning environment through coordination of efforts by cooperating teachers, student teachers, and college supervisors; and the effect of each aspect of the elementary school curriculum on the achievement of Spanish-speaking children. (SW)

THIS SURVEY, PREPARED TO DISCOVER HOW TO REDUCE STUDENT DROPOUT RATES, FOUND THE FOLLOWING GENERAL AREAS OF SIGNIFICANT DISSATISFACTION--(1) PERSONAL COUNSELING AND ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT, (2) INSTRUCTION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES, ENGLISH, AND BUSINESS, AND (3) STUDENT ACTIVITIES. OTHER, LESS CRITICAL AREAS NEEDING IMPROVEMENT WERE ALSO DISCLOSED. TABLES SHOW THE DATA ACCORDING TO AGE, SEX, HIGH-SCHOOL RECORDS, REASONS FOR DROP-OUT OR TRANSFER, AND OTHER CRITERIA. PROGRAMS PLANNED TO CORRECT THE SOURCES OF THESE DISSATISFACTIONS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE REPORT. (HH)

A CLOSED CONFERENCE ON DYSLEXIA AND RELATED LEARNING DISORDERS WAS HELD AT SOUTHWEST TEXAS STATE COLLEGE ON MAY 15 AND 16, 1967. TWENTY-FIVE PARTICIPANTS REPRESENTED KEY PROFESSIONS AND RELEVANT INTEREST GROUPS, AND 10 OBSERVERS REPRESENTED FEDERAL AGENCIES. WITH RESPECT TO DYSLEXIA AND RELATED LEARNING DISABILITIES, THE CONFEREES ADDRESSED THEIR ATTENTIONS TO THE AREAS OF RESEARCH, DIAGNOSIS AND EVALUATION, TEACHER PREPARATION, AND CORRECTIVE EDUCATION. THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ENDORSED THE REPORTS OF THE FOUR WORKING GROUPS AND RECOMMENDED THAT A COMMISSION OF NONFEDERAL SPECIALISTS BE APPOINTED AT THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE NATIONAL LEVEL TO (A) EXAMINE THE PROBLEM AREA IN DETAIL, (B) MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS CONCERNING THE NEED FOR A CONTINUING NATIONAL PROGRAM TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM, AND (C) DEVELOP GUIDELINES FOR ESTABLISHING A PROGRAM. A MAIL SURVEY OF THE 50 CHIEF STATE SCHOOL OFFICERS CONCERNING AN INVENTORY OF ACTIVITY IN THE FIELD IS INCLUDED. (BK)