Promoting Language Proficiency and Academic Achievement through Cooperation. ERIC Digest.

This digest discusses a project conducted in the Ysleta Independent School District in El Paso, Texas, that sought to integrate effective practices in literacy education, an empirically based cooperative learning model, and a classroom management model to help teachers develop the English and Spanish language proficiency of their students. The cooperative learning model selected was Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC). It consists of instructional practices that develop social, academic, and communication skills. It was selected for the following reasons: (1) It integrates oral language development, reading, and writing through all phases of instruction; (2) it enables bilingual teachers to manage their English, primary language, and transitional literacy activities effectively; (3) it develops critical thinking and social skills; (4) it develops self-esteem and self-confidence; (5) it uses children's literature in two languages and a variety of text genres, including student publications and reading texts; (6) it helps students appreciate and become proficient in their primary language while developing proficiency in English; and (7) it provides an English teaching and learning environment in which the subject matter is not watered down, and higher order discourse and thinking are the norm. The digest describes the features of the bilingual version of the CIRC model, now called BCIRC, and highlights initial findings from the Ysleta Independent School District. (VWL)