Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Education

Developing Awareness Around Language Practices In The Elementary Bilingual Mathematics Classroom, Gladys Krause, Melissa Adams Corral, Luz A. Maldonado Rodríguez Dec 2022

Developing Awareness Around Language Practices In The Elementary Bilingual Mathematics Classroom, Gladys Krause, Melissa Adams Corral, Luz A. Maldonado Rodríguez

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study contributes to efforts to characterize teaching that is responsive to children’s mathematical ideas and linguistic repertoire. Building on translanguaging, defined in this article as a pedagogical practice that facilitates students’ expression of their understanding using their own language practices, and on the literature surrounding children’s mathematical thinking, we present an example of a one-on-one interview and of the circulating portion of a mathematics class from a second grade classroom. We use these examples to foreground instructional practices, for researchers and practitioners, that highlight a shift from a simplified view of conveying mathematics as instruction in symbology and formal …


Assessing English Learners For Special Education Eligibility: Evaluator’S Perspectives And Procedures, Brenda Iveth De La Garza May 2020

Assessing English Learners For Special Education Eligibility: Evaluator’S Perspectives And Procedures, Brenda Iveth De La Garza

Theses and Dissertations

There is a disproportionate number of English Learners (ELs) in Special Education across the United States (Kligner, Artiles, & Barletta, 2006). When educators are concerned about EL’s lack of progress and their underachievement they turn towards Special Education as a way of finding resources and a solution to their concerns (Kligner, Boile, Linan-Thompson & Rodriguez, 2014). This poses a challenge for evaluators, especially for those who lack or have little knowledge about the differences that exist between typical language acquisition differences and a learning disability. Evaluators who lack this knowledge might be more likely to confuse a student’s second language …


Preparing Bilingual Teachers On The U.S./Mexico Border: Including The Voices Of Emergent Bilinguals, Alcione N. Ostorga, Peter Farruggio Jan 2020

Preparing Bilingual Teachers On The U.S./Mexico Border: Including The Voices Of Emergent Bilinguals, Alcione N. Ostorga, Peter Farruggio

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Language policies in the U.S., including matters relating to bilingual education, are tangled up with political tensions and ideology. All too often, the dialogue among educators and policymakers about what constitutes best practices for people learning English – for whom we will use the term emergent bilinguals (EBs) (Garcia, Kleifgen and Falchi 2008) – fails to include the voices of those they serve. The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) of South Texas provides a uniquely valuable laboratory in which to study bilingual education because of its location, demographic makeup, and migration patterns. In this study, a pedagogical intervention was made …


The Role Of Technology In Bilingual Education: Developing A Culture Of Excellence, Belinda Gomez May 2019

The Role Of Technology In Bilingual Education: Developing A Culture Of Excellence, Belinda Gomez

Theses and Dissertations

According to the PEW Research Center (2014), Texas' Hispanic population comprises 39% of its overall population, twice the U. S. Hispanic population. Texas Education Agency (TEA) predicts a 14% increase in the next seven years, with a surge of about 40% in its English Language Learners (ELLs) population. Already, it reports Texas experienced a 20% student enrollment growth in the last ten years within the predominately Mexican-Americans in South Texas border. With a perpetual ELL student population increase, bilingual education programs need to consider emerging best practices. This qualitative case study explored the role of technology in bilingual education, focusing …


Attitudinal Perspectives: A Factor To Implementation Of A Dual Language Program, Michael Whitacre Jan 2015

Attitudinal Perspectives: A Factor To Implementation Of A Dual Language Program, Michael Whitacre

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The central focus of this study was to determine the overall perceptions of school administrators, and the district bilingual coordinator on transferring theory to classroom practice, implementation, as viewed by those involved in the implementation process of the Gómez and Gómez Model of Dual Language Education. Responses were solicited from administrative personnel involved in the implementation of the Gómez and Gómez Model of Dual Language. Results revealed overall administrative attitudes were positive to the theoretical ideology and mixed as related to the actual implementation of the dual language program. The greatest areas of concern were; what to do when students …


The Use Of A Virtual Guest Speaker As A Catalyst For Deep Learning, Alcione N. Ostorga, Peter Farruggio Jan 2013

The Use Of A Virtual Guest Speaker As A Catalyst For Deep Learning, Alcione N. Ostorga, Peter Farruggio

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Teaching undergraduate students as they prepare to become bilingual teachers is often a challenge due to their maturational development and the logistical limitations of college courses. Nevertheless, teacher educators must foster preservice teachers’ understanding of factors that impact learning and academic success. This article analyses the use of a virtual guest speaker in an asynchronous discussion as a way to promote critical analysis of policy issues which superseded the memorization of concepts taught in the course. Analysis reveals that the virtual guest speaker served as a catalyst for critical thought about the course content.


Selected Factors Related To The Mathematics Academic Achievement Of Eighth Grade English Language Learners, Anthony Garza Dec 2012

Selected Factors Related To The Mathematics Academic Achievement Of Eighth Grade English Language Learners, Anthony Garza

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this study was to examine selected factors related to the 8th grade mathematics achievement levels of English Language Learner (ELL) students in selected South Texas middle schools. The dependent variable, ELL mathematics achievement, was measured by the ELL student’s raw score on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) or the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness linguistically accommodated test (STAAR L). The factors examined in this study were 1) parent’s educational background, 2) socioeconomic status, 3) parental involvement status at school, 4) number of people in the household, 5) family structure, 6) primary …


Self-Esteem And Identity: A Case Study Of Two Bilingual Education Students, Julia Gomez Montalvo May 2012

Self-Esteem And Identity: A Case Study Of Two Bilingual Education Students, Julia Gomez Montalvo

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This qualitative study focused on the self-esteem, sociocultural identity, and academic performance of transitional and dual language students as they moved through their respective programs. A case study was conducted on two randomly selected students, one from the transitional program and one from the dual language program. The two students attend the same school and have participated in their respective programs for 12 years in the same school district. Both students were asked to complete surveys on self-esteem and participate in an interview where they were asked various questions about their self-esteem, sociocultural identity, and academic performance. Data collected from …


Attitudes Of Parents And Teachers Toward Bilingual Education, Gilda Rios May 2011

Attitudes Of Parents And Teachers Toward Bilingual Education, Gilda Rios

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The importance of bilingual education has caught the attention of public school administrators. The current study used a quantitative approach to investigate the perceptions of bilingual education of teachers and parents from a selected elementary school in South Texas. Bilingual education is used in this study to describe the study of two languages among students. The term “bilingual education” can have multiple meanings to many people so we wanted to understand what people believed of educating students among two languages being that the area in which this study was conducted has traditionally rejected bilingual education. There were a total of …