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Currently, there are 1.3 million English Learners (EL) in California public schools (CDE 2018). The passage of Proposition 58, which presented multilingual education as key to students’ future econ...

The purpose of this article is to document a study where we problematized the notion of meaningful instruction in the context of problem-based learning for culturally and linguistically diverse stu...

Schools often fail to offer minoritized student groups access to quality STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education experiences. While policymakers should systemically address this...

In Problem-Based Learning (PBL), a problem is posed before students have learned how to solve it. Language and PBL pair well for effective learning environments. Informed by language-based theories...

Background: It was the purpose of this study to investigate graduate students’ perceptions and the processes related to learning to teach at university/college level using socio-cultural theory and ecological systems. . Methods: A survey based on Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems (1977) and a Knowledge –Confidence-Usefulness instrument (Barton-Arwood, Morrow, Lane & Jolivette, 2005) was administered to graduate students four times (N=10). Four interviews, class observations and document analyses were also conducted. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the survey data and interview data were analyzed via constant comparison. Results: Findings showed high internal consistency reliability of the items (>.93) and that graduate students’ perceptions of their experiences to prepare to teach at the university level were quite positive. Themes were related to being confident, having the potential to be effective at the post-secondary level, and a mismatch between experiences and expectations. Using the emergent process model of Chi and colleagues (2012), overall perceived dynamics (macro level), the individuated university agents/students within the socialization process (micro level) and the social subgroups into which the agent/student network (meso level) support an ecological form of faculty development. Conclusions: Results provide support for an ecological systems model as well as insights into faculty teaching development.

In this one-year qualitative study, the authors examined how border pedagogy is enacted by two Latino/a high school teachers in a border community in Southern California. Through classroom observations, the authors documented powerful student discussions that named complex borders (Giroux, 1992) that existed in their daily lives. We drew from conocimientos (understandings) (Anzaldua, 1987), conscientizacion (critical consciousness) (Freire, 1970), and carino (authentic care) (Valenzuela, 1999) as theoretical lenses to inform this study.

In this article the authors draw from culturally responsive teaching and multicultural education to describe performance poetry as an effective strategy for validating secondary aged Latino youths’ lived experiences. Supported by teacher modeling and the incorporation of community poets, students created and shared their own powerful poems that provided authentic opportunities to engage in critical analysis of the poems and issues of equality, social justice, and equity. Performance poetry is successfully used as a tool for validation, honoring and learning from our community, and transformation. Students in this border community were validated in terms of the identities as members of multiple worlds, learned about their own neighborhood from community poets, and were transformed in their identities as community activists through performance poetry. However, in this era of standardized teaching and high-stakes testing, teaching through performance poetry is often not supported in schools.

Like all people, we perceive the version of reality that our culture communicates. Like others having or living in more than one culture, we get multiple, often opposing messages. The coming together of two self-consistent but habitually incomparable frames of reference causes un choque, a cultural collision. --(Anzaldua, 1987, p.51) For the past two decades, historically marginalized youth have been underachieving in educational settings. More specifically, Latino/a (1) secondary youth have not attained academic success in comparison to other youth (Ek, 2009; Gandara & Contreras, 2009; Contreras, 2011). Much of the blame from schools and other institutions is placed on students, families, and historically marginalized communities of color (Irizarry & Raible, 2011). According to the Pew Hispanic Center (Fry, 2014), Latino/a youth have one of the highest high school dropout rates in the educational system. Numerous research studies on secondary Latino/a youth have demonstrated that culturally irrelevant curricula, pedagogy, unqualified teachers, and other educational factors have influenced the academic path of secondary youth (see Madrid, 2011). Irizarry and Raible (2011) argued that the lives of Latino/a youth continue to be excluded from secondary schools. Further, this causes student disengagement in high schools. Over the past ten years, the student population in the educational system has seen an increase in cultural, linguistic, and ethnic diversity. Further, with the rise and influx of immigrant populations in the United States, communities are becoming highly diverse and consequently, interaction between immigrant populations and mainstream institutions is increasing (Rios, 2013). The U.S Census projects that 50% of the population will consist of culturally, linguistically, racially, ethnic, and religiously diverse groups by 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). Despite the increasing growth of diversity within our national borders, issues concerning educational equity and equality have not always been well attended to in educational contexts. Schools and other institutions impacting youth must begin to recognize the daily experiences of students who live in two separate and disconnected worlds, that of home and school. Often, these worlds are in conflict. Although Latino/a youth come to high school with multiple identities, various languages, rich cultural experiences, and powerful lived experiences, they are often pushed into the shadows. High schools, especially urban high school, can be alienating, dehumanizing, and culturally denigrating spaces for youth who are pushed to the margins (Valenzuela, 1999). Border pedagogy (Giroux, 1992) has emerged as a way to disrupt the manner in which marginalized youth are educated in secondary school settings. This special theme issue examines how border pedagogy influences the lives of Latino/a youth in secondary schools. Major Concepts, Research Issues, and Ideas Examined Border pedagogy (Garza, 2007) has been enacted to interrupt the way in which marginalized youth learn within the educational system. Border pedagogy draws from the guiding principles of critical theory (Giroux, 1992) and critical pedagogy (Freire, 1974). Furthermore, border pedagogy is an understanding that there are ideological, epistemological, social and cultural margins that make up the language of power, history and difference (Giroux, 1992). Moreover, conceptual boundaries limit the potential of individuals who are different from those in power. Latino youth and other students of color are disengaged because they don't see themselves reflected in books, schools, and school curriculum (Bartolome, 2008; hooks; 2003; Prieto & Villenas, 2012). Border pedagogy engages learners in multiple references that constitute different cultural codes, experiences and languages to help them construct their own narratives and histories and revise democracy through sociocultural negotiation (Wilson, Ek, Ty, & Douglas, 2014). …

Teachers need to be able to design and implement problem-based learning (PBL) experiences to help students master the content and the processes in new mathematics and science education standards. Due to the changed population of learners within schools, it is also critically important that teachers in the elementary grades have the abilities to work effectively with English language learners (ELL). This article discusses the implementation of a major initiative by our teachers college to achieve both of these goals through Problem-Based Enhanced Language Learning (PBELL), which combines PBL, enhanced opportunities for language, and ELL methods. The implementation began with a small group of faculty members developing and piloting PBELL experiences, with coaching spread throughout the program. Our student-teachers are graduating with multiple opportunities to experience PBELL as learners and to design and implement PBELL experiences.

This chapter describes a case study of a teacher, Mrs. L., whose teaching incorporates culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) into U.S. and World History classrooms in order to meet the academic and linguistic needs of her specific student populations. The examples used in this chapter come from two settings in which Mrs. L has worked – an alternative high school for pregnant and parenting minors and a junior high school. Both settings were located in a diverse region of Southern California. Mrs. L’s methods for incorporating CSP into her U.S. and World History content were based foremost on establishing and building relationships and rapport with each girl in her class. Mrs. L incorporates CSP as she teaches her students about first and secondary sources through Richie Valens, develops critical thinking as she teaches about the Westward Expansion and the Lewis and Clark expedition, and develops technology skills as she teaches about various cultural views of death.

This article provides an analysis of Arizona’s policy response in educating English language learners by conducting a narrative review. A critical Latina/o theory approach was used to analyze the data. This study reveals 5 salient policy responses: (a) severely limit bilingual education, (b) develop controversial funding solutions, (c) implement a segregated 4-hr English language development block, (d) mandate structured English immersion–focused teacher preparation, and (e) develop disputed identification and classification instruments. The available data suggest that these policies have negatively impacted the educational experience and academic attainment of English language learners.

This study examined beginning English literacy-skill development and achievement among Spanish-speaking children enrolled in state-mandated English-only classrooms. The children possessed Spanish skill at or above age-appropriate level, yet minimal English skill, and came from a Spanish-speaking community adjacent to the U.S.-Mexico border. Under its English-only law, the state-mandated classroom instruction is only in English through a structured English immersion model (SEI) using state-regulated and supervised four-hour English language development blocks for these children. Using secondary analysis of existing data, children’s English vocabulary, phonemic awareness, word-reading fluency scores, as well as their English reading and language achievement scores were examined for four years with two separate cohorts of children, beginning with their entry into kindergarten and ending at third grade (K–3rd). Analyses indicated that English-only SEI instruction for children did not result in age- or grade-l...

In high school English classrooms where English language learners may be at risk of academic failure, Culturally Responsive Teaching can help educators build an inclusive community in which all students can improve their literacy skills.

The purpose of this analog study was to determine if increased access to information about a hypothetical English Language Learner (ELL) students’ language proficiency increased preservice teachers’ recognition that limited English proficiency is the likely cause of student difficulties. We find that the provision of increasing levels of information about the student’s English proficiency was associated with preservice teachers’ recognition that limited English proficiency was the likely cause of the student’s classroom difficulties. We also find no differences between groups based on preservice teachers’ education major. This study has implications for avoiding inappropriate referrals for special education evaluation and appropriately meeting ELL students’ instructional needs.

As the nation as a whole becomes progressively more diverse, increasing numbers of children from linguistically diverse backgrounds are served in special education programs. Ensuring that appropriate educational services are developed for these students in collaboration with their family members as equal participants on school-based teams necessitates high-quality language interpretation during the individualized education plan process and beyond. In this article, the authors describe basic types of language interpretation errors and provide examples of how these can surface during an individualized education plan and other school-based meetings. The authors then discuss how school-based teams can facilitate accurate and quality language interpretation through implementation of research-based, best practice recommendations that reflect Individuals With Disabilities Education Act principles and components of collaborative professional–family partnerships.

(2012). The Physical Educator as a Language Teacher for English Language Learners. Strategies: Vol. 25, No. 4, pp. 14-17.

As our schools become increasingly diverse and the effects of immigration can be felt across the nation, some states have mandated that preservice teachers take endorsement courses that focus on teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) with the purpose of ensuring that teachers are able to meet ELLs' social and academic needs. A significant factor in improving instructional practices for ELLs is preservice teachers' confidence in their ability to teach ELLs successfully. What remains to be seen, however, is how best to organize and implement endorsement courses so that they have a positive effect on teachers' confidence to use their new knowledge to teach in effective ways. In this study, we discuss how endorsement curricula can build teachers' self-efficacy for teaching ELLs by not just covering the required content, but by being conscientious in how the curricula are organized and delivered. By providing teachers with the foundational knowledge through the use of meaningful and engaging pedagogical pra...

By using deliberate strategies to adjust the phrasing of word problems, teachers can provide a richer mathematics experience for ELLs.

(2011). What Makes a Good Story?: Supporting Oral Narratives of Young Children from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds. Childhood Education: Vol. 87, No. 4, pp. 261-268.

This article explores the development of writing skills in the context of science using the mode continuum, a linguistic framework for planning the connection between science instruction and writing. Using specific research-based methodology, this article demonstrates the steps to advance students from speaking to writing in the science classroom.

In this narrative, five adult siblings bring their voices together to tell the stories of their interwoven college experiences—how they influenced, supported, and relied on one another and other family members. As the stories unfold, they reveal the strengths of the familial ties that provide meaning and purpose to the college experience, the considerations that drive college enrollment choices, the pain of confrontational and unsupportive college environments, and the joys of success and self-discovery. By linking their stories in this essay, the grown children of the Jimenez family paint a portrait of the centrality of tradition, culture, and family in their atypical success story.

This article focuses on the influence that Arizona's mandated Structured English Immersion endorsement policy has on preservice teachers' beliefs and attitudes toward English language learners. By utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry, our preliminary analysis showed “the campfire effect,” which is to say that our undergraduate students overwhelmingly reported that the endorsement courses had a positive result on both their confidence and underlying ideological beliefs about teaching English language learners. The campfire effect, therefore, is an important step in the teacher learning process, particularly with such controversial topics as the education of culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Results from this study suggest teachers believe technology may provide English language learners (ELLs) an advantage in developing writing skills. Using a theoretical framework by Hadaway, Vardell, and Young (2002) citing seven teacher practices that support the writing of ELL students when writing processes are embedded in real-world activities, this research sought to isolate technology supports within the framework. Practices include: time and opportunity to write, a reason for writing, a genuine audience, access to role models, a safe environment, useful feedback, and a sense of community. Fourteen K-8 classroom teachers reflected on specific classroom events whereby technology was used to support activities in which ELLs wrote within a project-based environment. Using a collective case study approach, the yearlong investigation used qualitative analyses of impressions from the teachers and the professional developer who supported these teachers. The study concluded that the Hadaway, Vardell...