Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Transformative Leadership: An Asset-Based Approach To Leadership For Diverse Schools And Learners, Marilyn Sudsberry, Brooke Kandel-Cisco

Brooke Kandel-Cisco

Traditionally, school leadership has been viewed as emanating from a sole source, the school administrator. This top-down perspective suggests that school leadership lives and dies by the leader's specific skills, mind-set, and preferred activities. This perspective ultimately oversimplifies the difficult work that school administrators must navigate in order to ensure the success of all learners. While there is no doubt that many individual school administrators are empathetic and compassionate educators, unilateral decision-making means that the cultural, linguistic and social lenses utilized to inform decision-making are limited to the perspective of the administrator.

In this chapter we propose that school leadership …

Review Of The Book: English Language Learners In The Mathematics Classroom, Brooke Kandel-Cisco

Brooke Kandel-Cisco

Dr. Kandel-Cisco's review of: Coggins, Debra; Kravin, Drew; Coates, Grace Dávila & Carroll, Maria Dreux (2007). English Language Learners in the Mathematics Classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Using Applied Theatre Toward Culturally Responsive Teaching, Meg Troxel, Brooke Kandel-Cisco

Brooke Kandel-Cisco

Applied theatre and youth participatory action research engage students in powerful discussions on complex issues. A culturally responsive middle level teacher used applied theatre to motivate and empower academically and linguistically marginalized students and study the outcomes with the support of her university advisor. Their findings suggest that implementing strategies associated with applied theatre, youth participatory action research, and culturally responsive teaching have the potential to can help students develop new perspectives, learn to work with others, gain a sense of community, increase confidence through student voice, and obtain a greater comfort level with public speaking. This paper explores the …

Improving Reading Comprehension In Dual Language Programs, Susana E. Franco-Fuenmayor, Brooke Kandel-Cisco, Yolanda Padrón

Brooke Kandel-Cisco

The low achievement levels and high dropout rates of English Language Learners (ELLs) continue to be a great challenge for educators. One area that can provide us with useful information on how to improve the education of ELLs is dual language programs. Research in this area indicates that native language development is important for academic success. The present study examined the cognitive reading strategies of students enrolled in a dual language program. The results indicate that both language groups of students were using successful cognitive reading strategies to comprehend text. The study also describes how the questionnaire used in the …

Investigating Vocabulary And Reading Strategies With Middle Grades English Language Learners: A Research Synthesis, Brooke Kandel-Cisco, Yolanda Padrón

Brooke Kandel-Cisco

Recent data indicate that many adolescent English language learners (ELLs) comprehend English texts at only a limited literal level. The purpose of this research synthesis was to systematically identify and describe the research related to the English reading comprehension of middle grades ELLs while also making practical connections to instruction. Parameters were established to determine whether the collected research studies met the purpose of the synthesis and the standards for quality research, using the guiding principles for scientific research set forth in the National Research Council’s Scientific Research in Education. Three themes emerged across the 11 identified studies: (a) the …

Using A Resiliency Perspective To Inform Bilingual Teachers’ Classroom Inquiry, Brooke Kandel-Cisco, Yolanda Padrón

Brooke Kandel-Cisco

Recent research has established the importance of teacher quality in the academic success or failure of students (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Sanders, Wright, & Horn, 2004) and policy initiatives, such as NCLB, have propelled the issue of teacher quality to the forefront of educational reform in the U.S. While No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has been successful in establishing minimum teacher quality standards for general educators, the act has failed to highlight the importance of quality for teachers of second language learners (Nieto. 2003). Teacher quality is especially impo1tant for second language learners. both because of the pedagogic and Iinguistic complexities inherent …

Test-Based Accountability Systems: Concerns For Indiana’S Multilingual Learners And Their Teachers, Kathryn Brooks, Brooke Kandel-Cisco

Brooke Kandel-Cisco

Indiana’s current test-based accountability system grew, in part, out of decades of federal-level educational reform initiatives. This article reviews the history of Indiana’s test-based accountability system for schools and details how the system calculates evaluative ratings for Indiana teachers and schools. Additionally, the article analyzes how the Indiana accountability system contradicts what is known about appropriate measurement of English language learners and lists psychometric and validity concerns such as valid assessment, non-random assignment, norming groups, and ceiling/bottom effects. This article calls for a system in which multiple assessments offer rich data for school and teacher evaluations.