eNEWS | subscribe to eNEWS
From: nccrest@cudenver.edu
Date: 06/04/04

*************************************************************
NCCRESt News, the electronic newsletter of the
National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems

Volume 2, Number 5 May 2004
*************************************************************

In this issue:

==> NCCRESt Update: Now accepting registrations for ELL research
conference (Nov. 18-19); GLARRC and NCCRESt Regional Forum (June 17-18)
==> Publication Highlight: NCCRESt releases "Legal Rights: The
Overrepresentation of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students in
Special Education"
==> Web Site of the Month: Center for Research on Education, Diversity,
and Excellence (CREDE)
==> New Resource: Understanding Storytelling Among African American
Children
==> NCCRESt Support Desk
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
PLEASE SHARE NCCRESt NEWS WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

NCCRESt UPDATE

==> NCCRESt's National Research Conference
English Language Learners Struggling to Learn:
Emergent Research on Linguistic Difference and Learning Disabilities

< Now accepting registrations - space is limited! >

November 18-19, 2004 * The SunBurst Resort, Scottsdale, AZ

Presenters include:
Alfredo Artiles, Leonard Baca, Manual Barrera, Jim Cummins, Kathy
Escamilla, Richard Figueroa, Todd Fletcher, Gene Garcia, Michael Gerber,
Diane Haager, Janette Klingner, Nonie Lesaux, Jeff McSwan, Jamal Obedi,
Alba Ortiz, Robert Rueda, Nadeen Ruiz, Richard Ruiz, and Sharon Vaughn.

Co-sponsored by Arizona State University, the Council for Exceptional
Children, and the National Association for Bilingual Education, the
conference will present original, emergent scholarship on the differences
between second language acquisition and learning disabilities. The impetus
for the conference is the unprecedented growth of the English language
learner population, the emergence of empirical evidence about the number
of inappropriate referrals of ELLs to special education, the challenges
associated with distinguishing between the characteristics of "normal"
second language acquisition and learning disabilities, and the alarming
dearth of research on these and related issues.
 
What will the conference cover?
* Original research with English language learner populations focused on
differentiating between second language acquisition and learning
disabilities
* Analytical perspectives on ELL issues
* Synthesis of the research on English language learners
* Population, referral, assessment, and instructional issues

For more information or to register, please go to
http://www.nccrest.org/ell_conference.html. Direct any questions to
Carolyn Ottke-Moore at Carolyn.Moore@cudenver.edu.

==> GLARRC/NCCRESt Regional Forum
Addressing Issues of Disproportionate Representation of Minority Students
in Special Education
June 17-18 * Chicago, IL

NCCRESt is pleased to be partnering with the Great Lakes Area Regional
Resource Center (GLARRC) to sponsor a regional technical assistance
meeting for invited state teams in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan,
Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

The purpose of the meeting is

1) to increase awareness and build a shared understanding of the
complexities that contribute to disproportionality
2) to understand state and local contextual issues and learn about
approaches being implemented
3) to engage in focused dialogue that will facilitate an understanding of
individual state technical assistance and resource needs
4) to prepare states for developing individual state technical assistance
plans for addressing disproportionality issues.

For more information on this forum, please contact NCCRESt's Project
Coordinator Shelley Zion at Shelley.Zion@cudenver.edu or 303-556-3990.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PUBLICATION HIGHLIGHT

==> Legal Rights: The Overrepresentation of Culturally and Linguistically
Diverse Students in Special Education

Kevin Welner, University of Colorado, Boulder
 
The laws governing special education, and overrepresentation issues in
particular, can be intimidating. Lost in the mishmash of federal and state
laws and regulations, however, are some fairly basic rules. This new
practitioner brief, "Legal Rights: The Overrepresentation of Culturally
and Linguistically Diverse Students in Special Education," cuts through
the legalese and outlines those rules in clear and simple terms.

Free, downloadable copies of "Legal Rights" are currently available on
NCCRESt's Web site: http://www.nccrest.org/publications.html. This
publication is the first in a new series of practitioner briefs from
NCCRESt. Look for briefs on culturally responsive literacy and
multicultural education later in June.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WEB SITE OF THE MONTH

==> Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE)
http://www.crede.ucsc.edu

CREDE is a federally funded research and development program focused on
improving the education of students whose ability to reach their potential
is challenged by language or cultural barriers, race, geographic location,
or poverty. An important facet of CREDE's work is the development of a
pedagogy that has been proven to be effective in educating all students,
especially at-risk students. CREDE has developed "Five Standards for
Effective Pedagogy," which are designed to establish ideals for best
teaching practices that can be used in any classroom environment for any
grade level or group of students. The five standards are:

1) Teachers and Students Producing Together
Facilitate learning through joint productive activity among teachers and
students.

2) Developing Language and Literacy Across the Curriculum
Develop students' competence in the language and literacy of instruction
throughout all instructional activities.

3) Making Lessons Meaningful
Connect curriculum to experience and skills of students' home and
community.

4) Teaching Complex Thinking
Challenge students toward cognitive complexity.

5) Teaching through Conversation
Engage students through dialogue, especially instructional conversation.

CREDE's Web site--http://www.crede.ucsc.edu--provides a rich resource for
those looking for teaching, professional development, research, or
policymaking tools.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEW RESOURCES

==> Understanding Storytelling Among African American Children: A Journey
from Africa to America
 
In this new book, Dr. Tempii Champion contributes to previous research by
suggesting that African American children do not produce one structure of
narratives exclusively, but rather a repertoire of structures, some linked
to African and African American, and others to European American narrative
structures. Detailed analyses of narratives using both psychological text
analysis and qualitative analysis are presented. An informative
introduction provides background on this study, including a history of
storytelling within the African American community. Part I offers a
framework for understanding narrative structures among African American
children. In Part II, evidence is presented that African American children
produce a repertoire of narrative structures that are complex in nature.
Part III connects the research findings to implications for educating
African American children. Researchers, students, and professionals in the
fields of literacy education, language development, African American
studies, and communication sciences and disorders will find this book
particularly relevant and useful.

Available from the publisher, Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.:
https://www.erlbaum.com/shop/tek9.asp?pg=products&specific=0-8058-3407-9
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NCCRESt SUPPORT DESK

If you have comments or questions about NCCRESt News, or have information
you would like us to distribute to the list, please
email nccrest@cudenver.edu.
If you were sent NCCRESt News indirectly, you may subscribe to future
issues free of charge by following the directions at:
http://www.nccrest.org/newsletter.asp.
Or, follow the directions below:
Create an email message to: majordomo@mail.edc.org
Leave the subject line blank
In the body of the message, type: subscribe nccrest
Send the message.

Archives of NCCRESt News are available at
http://www.edc.org/hypermail/nccrest/
For more information about NCCRESt, please contact:
Shelley Zion, Project Coordinator
National Center for Culturally Responsive
Educational Systems (NCCRESt)
1380 Lawrence Street, Suite 625
Denver, CO 80204
Phone: 303-556-3990
Fax: 303-556-6141
Email: shelley.zion@cudenver.edu
Web: www.nccrest.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
NCCRESt is a technical assistance center funded by
the Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education.
Project Officer: Grace Zamora Duràn. Award No. H326E020003.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------