Foreign languages across the curriculum: A model for the delivery of professional language training

In 1995, Boise State University undertook an interdisciplinary languages program under a FLAC (Foreign Languages Across the Curriculum) grant sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. Coordinated through the Department of Modern Languages, the program utilized non-foreign language faculty across the colleges of the campus who were fluent in a foreign language. FLAC courses were conceptualized and designed as “trailer” courses, in which a class offering one unit of instruction in Spanish was attached to an existing course in each department's curriculum. At Boise State, FLAC was extended for the first time to criminal justice. This paper discusses the FLAC program nationally and the FLAC program at Boise State with a focus on the criminal justice department. Positive outcomes and institutional problems in sustaining the program are described.     

Building New Bridges to America's Schools: Lessons From the University of Notre Dame

This article tells the story and explores the significance of Notre Dame's efforts over the past 18 years to serve the pressing needs of underresourced elementary and secondary schools throughout the United States, with a special focus on the faith-based sector—and more particularly, Catholic schools. These schools are increasingly fragile but possess a well-documented track record of success educating low-income minority students. The closure in 1976 of Notre Dame's Department of Education left open an institutional space for entrepreneurial initiatives and new partnerships responsive to the needs of schools across the nation. Attentive to the manifold ironies inherent in the founding (in the mid-1990s) and growth of the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program and Notre Dame's Institute for Educational Initiatives in which ACE is housed, the authors discern a pattern in which seeming deficits and obstacles repeatedly spark innovative responses and powerful alliances among a diverse range of stakeholders united by common goals. Drawing upon lessons learned, both through failures and successes, these reflections suggest roles that institutions of higher learning might play to improve the quality of education in faith-based, private, and public schools.     

Discussion Paper--Creative Partnerships: Public and voluntary services working together

Recent Government initiatives (National Healthy School Standard; Department for Education and Employment, 1999) and Guidance (Promoting Children's Mental Health within Early Years and School Settings; Department for Education and Employment, 2001) are placing increased expectations on schools to promote the emotional well-being of children. However, teachers are unlikely through initial training to have the skills and knowledge required to undertake these responsibilities unassisted. Moreover, the external support available to schools through public sector agencies is insufficiently resourced to meet a significant and sustained rise in demand. Through its Compact (Home Office, 1998), the previous Government acknowledged the contribution currently made to society by the voluntary sector and its potential to provide further support for those in need. Charities supporting children's social/emotional development and mental health may have much to offer. Projects run by the voluntary sector are already supporting schools across the country, and rapid growth is underway. However, schools need help in procuring, monitoring and evaluating this support to assure quality standards and pupil safety. Both schools and Local Education Authorities (LEAs) have a duty of care. Educational psychologists, trained in child development, research and evaluation, and with access to regulatory processes such as Children's Services Planning and Best Value, should be well-placed to assist and guide their LEA, schools and voluntary sector partners.     

美国小学教师标准与小学教育专业的课程设计——以佐治亚州立大学早期儿童教育专业为例

美国小学教师的培养有自己的文化特色和教育理念。佐治亚州立大学教育学院设置的早期儿童教育专业典型地反映了美国小学教师的培养特点。这个专业以美国关于小学教师的十条标准为指导,结合早期儿童教育的实际,设计了比较完整的课程体系。其课程设计的思路和结构特点对我国小学教育专业的课程改革具有参考价值。     

Interdisciplinary PPS Training Team

A cooperative student-intern program, referred to as the Pupil Personnel Services Team, has been implemented by North Carolina State University in cooperation with the Wake County public school system. The roots of the team concept originated in North Carolina State's Departments of Counselor Education, Psychology, and Teacher Education from the School of Education. The social-work program is included from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.     

The appeal of the International Baccalaureate in Australia's educational market: a curriculum of choice for mobile futures

In Australia there is growing interest in a national curriculum to replace the variety of matriculation credentials managed by State Education departments, ostensibly to address increasing population mobility. Meanwhile, the International Baccalaureate (IB) is attracting increasing interest and enrolments in State and private schools in Australia, and has been considered as one possible model for a proposed Australian Certificate of Education. This paper will review the construction of this curriculum in Australian public discourse as an alternative frame for producing citizens, and ask why this design appeals now, to whom, and how the phenomenon of its growing appeal might inform national curricular debates. The IB's emergence is understood with reference to the larger context of neo-liberal marketisation policies, neo-conservative claims on the curriculum and middle-class strategy. The paper draws on public domain documents from the International Baccalaureate Organisation and newspaper reportage to demonstrate how the IB is constructed for public consumption in Australia.     

Summary of a Symposium on Nongovernmental Basic Education

The symposium on nongovernmental basic education sponsored by the Guangzhou Zhonghua Yinghao School, the Guangzhou Modern Education Science Center, and the magazine Zhongxiaoxue jiaoyu guanli (Management of elementary and secondary school education) was held in Conghua, Guangzhou, from May 29 to May 31. Representatives of sixteen nongovernmental schools in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang, Sichuan, Anhui, Hainan, and Guangdong participated. Leading personnel and experts from the Statutes and Law Bureau of the State Council and relevant departments of the State Education Commission and from the Guangzhou Education Commission were also invited to attend. In his opening address, Comrade Wu Ziyan, director of Guangzhou's Modern Education Science Center, proposed the following topics for discussion: the position and role of nongovernmental elementary and secondary schools in the development of socialist education; how nongovernmental elementary and secondary schools should handle the relationship between the laws of education and the laws of the market economy; how nongovernmental elementary and secondary schools should implement the state's educational policies, improve educational quality, and do their best to acquire special characteristics. The following is a summary of the discussions.     

美国中小学单性学校的立法沿革与新进展

美国的单性教育一直是一个值得争议的问题.美国联邦政府最高法院有多次机会可以禁止各州开办单性公立学校,但终未实施,只是对个别实施单性教育的公立学校进行审查,看它(们)是否给男生和女生提供了同等的教育机会.2004年3月联邦教育部颁布了"接受政府资助的非歧视性别分类教育项目或活动建议条款",为单性教育打开方便之门.美国现行的单性教育分为全单性教育和部分单性教育两种类型.     

Oral traditions: An aid to implementation of mother tongue-based multilingual education in the Philippines’ basic education programme

English and Filipino (Tagalog) are the official languages of the Philippines. English is taught in schools and used as a medium of instruction as early as kindergarten. Because it was originally imposed by Western colonialism, its use in academia has been criticised as discriminatory to regional and indigenous languages other than Tagalog, which are not generally used in higher education and have therefore not been allowed to develop as academic languages. In 2012, the Filipino Department of Education issued Order No. 16, series of 2012, also known as the mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) order. Following its recent adoption in public schools, the MTB-MLE policy has already run into some difficulties that challenge its output. Among these is a lack of instructional materials, as most available textbooks are written in English or Filipino. This article explores the potential of oral traditions as instructional tools in basic education. There have been extensive efforts by folklorists to collect, record and publish folk epics, myths, legends and tales. An essential aspect of this research is the recording and publication of materials in the original versions or languages used by native informants from indigenous communities. For the past ten years, the author has conducted field research with indigenous communities in the southern regions of Mindanao. This has yielded a collection of folk literature recorded in the languages of the indigenous communities studied. This collection has been translated into Bisaya, one of the major regional languages of the Philippines, and into English. These texts have considerable potential as classroom learning materials. The publication of these indigenous literature texts makes knowledge of indigenous language and culture available to basic education learners, as well as to the general public. The publication of mother tongue reading materials will also help promote knowledge of, appreciation for, and proficiency in the use of these languages.     

A Policy Adventure: Sponsored grant-maintained schools

This paper examines the implementation of that part of the 1993 Education Act for England and Wales that concerned sponsored grant-maintained schools. The 1993 Education Act for England and Wales introduced changes that allowed the expansion of the supply side of the quasi-market of schools. As a result of that Act, since April 1994, it has been possible for groups of parents or independent sponsors to apply to the Secretary of State for Education and Employment in England or the Secretary of State for Wales to establish their own grant-maintained schools. Additionally, existing faith-based or other private schools could apply to become re-established as grant-maintained schools. This paper gives an account of the results of this 'policy adventure', and suggests that insights can be gained about the nature of the policy process through a consideration of 'policy as text' and 'policy as discourse'.     

Faculty/Staff Perceptions of a Standards-Based Exit Portfolio System for Graduate Students

New standards for certification were recently developed for speech–language pathology graduate training programs by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The new standards are outcomes-based rather than process-based. Using a collective case study approach, this article highlights the perceptions of faculty and staff regarding use of a standards-based exit portfolio system for students in a Speech–Language Pathology graduate program at a medium-sized, public university after two semesters of use.Tena L. McNamara received a B.S. degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology and an M.S. degree in Audiology from Bradley University, and the Doctor of Audiology Degree from the University of Florida. She is now Assistant Professor at Illinois State University. Special interests include soundfield FM systems utilized in classroom settings, auditory processing disorders, electrophysiology, and phonological awareness. Rita L. Bailey is a speech–language pathologist and holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Speech–Language Pathology and an Ed.D. in Special Education, all from Illinois State University. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at Illinois State University. Her primary research interests include pediatric dysphagia, service-learning, alternative-augmentative communication methods, and voice. E-mail: tlmcnam@ilstu.edu.     

CSR Principal Perceptions of Support from the State Department of Education

Elementary school principals who received a Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) award in January or August 2002 (n = 21) were invited to be interviewed in the late spring and summer of 2003. A total of 19 principals consented to audiotaped interviews. The interviews focused on several CSR dimensions, including principals' beliefs about the extent to which schoolwide achievement would increase with CSR implementation, where achievement gains were most likely to occur, and the degree of teacher support for the program. In this article, our focus is on principals' perceptions of their relationship with the Arizona State Department of Education (ADE). In summary, principals perceived the relationship between ADE and CSR schools to be one of benign neglect. The state was only a vehicle for transferring funds and did not provide guidance or oversight after funds were awarded. Hence, federal CSR policies, as mediated by the ADE, resulted in single-school reform, not district or state reform.     

Capturing the Complexity of Alternative Schools: Narratives of Latino Males in an Overlooked Educational Space

 This study discusses the needs and challenges associated with Latino males’ treatment in public schools. The primary concern is how nationally, only one in two Latino males graduate from U.S. high schools (Schott Foundation for Public Education in Black Lives Matter: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males, http://blackboysreport.org/, 2015). However, a growing body of research has emerged, heightening Latino males’ social and academic needs in traditional K-12 educational settings. In this paper, we highlight the need to focus on alternative school settings through the narratives of four Latino males enrolled in two alternative public schools. Our findings describe the nuances in alternative schooling experience for Latino males. It explores the school context's differences to (re)engage youth back into school and the various factors that shape their future aspirations. We discuss implications for research and practice to improve alternative schools' conditions to better serve Latino males in this overlooked sector in the educational pipeline.

     

Using education assistants to help pave the road to literacy: Supporting oral language,letter-sound knowledge and phonemic awareness in the pre-primary year

Children with weak oral language skills are at risk of experiencing difficulty with early literacy acquisition. Intensive small group intervention during the pre-primary year has the potential to improve children's success in developing emergent literacy skills. Education assistants are a potentially powerful resource for supporting students at educational risk. In this study, education assistants at four schools were trained to provide a daily half-hour emergent literacy program to pre-primary students with low oral language skills. The program focused on developing phonological awareness, letter-sound knowledge and vocabulary using both explicit and in-context (embedded) learning activities. The students undertaking the program made significant gains on early language and literacy measures. Case studies are presented that illustrate the strengths and limitations of the intervention for children and schools.     

Charter Schools and Urban Education Improvement: A Comparison of Newark’s District and Charter Schools

This article compares student achievement of fourth graders in charter schools and district public schools in Newark, New Jersey. We find that Newark and New Jersey’s charter schools mirror the educational inequalities of the state as a whole, as well as its Abbott Districts. The data indicate that charter schools are similar to district urban public schools, with pockets of excellence and mediocrity. We measure school performance based on two criteria: actual test score performance, and the difference between actual and predicted performance. We find that some charter schools are able to achieve performance above predicted, given their school and student characteristics, while other schools do worse than predicted. Thus charter schools are not simply a magic bullet, but rather they warrant further investigation to see which practices work and which don’t, especially in a challenging urban setting such as Newark.Jason M. Barr is an Assistant Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Rutgers University-Newark, Newark, NJ, USA. Louisa Visconti is a Research Associate, Department of Urban Education, Rutgers University-Newark, Newark, New Jersey, USA. Address correspondence to Alan R. Sadovnik who is a Professor of Education, Sociology and Public Affairs and Associate Director, Institute on Education Law and Policy, Department of Urban Education, Rutgers University-Newark, 165 Bradley Hall, Newark, NJ 07102, USA; e-mail: sadovnik@andromeda.rutgers.edu     

Education to Aid the Border Regions

To promote the development of education in Tibet and do a good job of aid-Tibet educational work, the State Education Commission was commissioned by the State Council to convene a conference on aid-Tibet education in Beijing on March 9-11, 1993. Secretaries-general of people's governments and directors of education commissions of twenty-one provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government, as well as people in charge of educational departments of twenty-five ministries and commissions, participated in the conference. Li Tieying, member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and member of the State Council, attended and spoke at the conference. Also attending and addressing the conference were Deputy Secretary-General Xu Jianzhi of the State Council, Vice Director Wang Mingda of the State Education Commission, and Chairman Jiangcun Lobu and Vice Chairman Laba Pingcuo of the People's Government of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Vice Minister Li an aid-Tibet education coordinating and leading group with the participation of the province's financial departments and education commission and with a deputy leader of the group detailed to take charge of the work; (2) to make a special annual allocation of 1.5 million yuan from the province's finances as supplementary funds for aid-Tibet education; and (3) to designate six schools, including the Yueyang No. 1 Middle School and the Yueyang Normal School, to operate as aid-Tibet education schools. The governments of all other relevant provinces and municipalities are stepping up the implementation of similar measures.     

A Brief Account of the First Symposium on the Theory of Privately Run Schools

The first symposium on the theory of privately run schools was held from September 23 to September 25, 1992, at Tianjin's Educational Science Institute. It was attended by more than fifty educational theorists and practitioners as well as representatives of a number of private schools from eleven areas of nine provinces and municipalities, namely, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Shandong, Shanxi, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong. The State Education Commission's Division of Policy and Law, Division of Basic Education, and the Central Educational Science Institute also participated. Participants discussed the following topics: definition of the concepts of privately run schools and private schools in the course of private school development; the position and role of private schools in the socialist educational system; the social background and inherent basis for the development of private schools; private schools' internal management; how private schools can improve quality and establish their own characteristics; supervision and evaluation of private schools; the history of reform of private schools and comparative studies of Chinese and foreign private schools; how educational administrations can reinforce management over private schools and the study of related policies and regulations; and the feasibility of people from foreign countries, overseas Chinese, compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan opening schools in China. Information about the development of nongovernmental and private schools everywhere was exchanged, problems in establishment and development were given priority in discussion. The Tianjin Educational Science Institutes group researching privately run schools and private schools made a special presentation on Chinassovereign right of education vis-à-vis the right to conduct educatio—question facing people from other countries in opening schools in China.     

Enhancing Early Childhood Development Through Arts Integration in Economically Disadvantaged Learning Environments

Education in the arts continues to struggle for inclusion in PreK-12 classrooms as public schools face increasing challenges from high stakes testing, Common Core politics, and endless budget cuts. Advocates point to the growing body of research linking art education to academic achievement as justification for arts’ continued inclusion in the curriculum. In its 2005 report, the National Association of State Boards of Education highlighted this research trend and called for stronger emphasis on arts in educational curricula (Meyer in Arts Educ Policy Rev 106(3):35–40, 2005). Yet despite the evidence, school districts across the nation have been slow to include more arts programming within the classroom. This study, however, examines one school district that did. In a collaborative project between a large urban school district and a local arts and science council, an arts integration program called Wolf Trap was implemented in economically disadvantaged pre-Kindergarten and first-grade classrooms at selected schools across the district. Objectives of the program were to: (a) improve school readiness skills among participants; (b) increase capacity of classroom teachers to learn and implement effective arts-based teaching strategies; and (c) increase the capacity of teaching artists to acquire and model effective arts-based teaching strategies. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the program using data from the teaching artists, classroom teachers, and the external evaluators. We discuss the program in detail and explain the methodology used in our evaluation. Finally, we present evidence that indicates the program’s success and we offer recommendations for program stakeholders.     

Context Matters: Improving Schooling for Native Hawaiian Children Special Issue: Partnering for Equity

This case study examines an initiative at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa's College of Education with the mission of improving schooling for children, mostly Native Hawaiian, of the Wai‘anae Coast of O'ahu. The study reports how the initiative recruits, supports, and prepares new teachers for the particularities of this specific location as well as the generalizability of local practice to theory regarding the preparation of new teachers for indigenous minority populations.     

Finding a Golden Mean in Education Policy: Centering Religious and Public Schools

The separation between Church and State, private and public education, is blurring, and coming together, as the government gives families vouchers to attend private and religious schools. Religious groups are starting and supporting their own charter schools, and local jurisdictions (cities and counties) are providing free transportation and food services to children attending private schools. What emerges, and is the focus of this analysis, is the new “middle ground,” a “golden mean,” by which public schools learn diversity and choice while private/religious schools are helped by public programs and funds. The oldest, perhaps, was Lyndon Johnson's compromise with the Catholics to get Title 1 passed as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that sends public school teachers into private schools to help children in need. This study examines the emergence of a middle group in public–private education, and how the policies are working and what's changing. It argues that the child is the center of education, and government and private agencies are changing and should come together to serve the clients, the children.