New Releases by Jim Cummins

"Brave New Schools" is the first book in the cultural literacy debate that considers the impact of the information superhighway and its presence in the classroom. Stunning in its implications for the future of learning guided by technology, the book offers hopeful solutions to the problems of cultural differences and the future of our children.

This course teaches English through thematic units based on grade-level science, social studies, health, mathematics and art. There are carefully sequenced activities in listening, speaking, reading, writing and thinking and authentic assessment activities.

This book confronts the patterns of school failure often faced by subordinated minority groups in the United States. It does so by presenting a socioacademic framework that is based on the notion that all groups can have comparable access to quality schooling, comparable participation in the schooling, and derive comparable educational benefits from their participation. Organized around three key, interrelated components--communication, integration, and cooperation--the book combines theoretical concepts with actual classroom practices that support change. It moves us from a position of rhetoric about educational equality to one that actively addresses the socioacademic needs of students in a culturally diverse society.

This book analyses policy issues regarding the education of minority students in western industrialised societies and presents a number of case studies of programs that have been successful in reversing the pattern of minority students'' academic failure.

This book examines the effectiveness of alternatives to assessment and pedagogical practices for bilingual children. A central theme of the book is that practice can be improved only by a thorough re-examination of the assumptions underlying the special education enterprise.

This handbook provides an introduction to research findings related to bilingualism in minority-language children, and describes the implications of these findings for issues of current concern in Canadian education. Bilingualism is defined as the production and/or comprehension of two languages by the same individual. The phrase "minority-language children" refers to children whose first language is different from the language of the wider community. The topic is discussed under five headings: (1) issues dealing with bilingual and bicultural education, providing for instruction in a variety of languages, psychological and educational ramifications, and a case study; (2) the historical perspective and the context for bilingualism and bilingual education at present in Canada and in other countries; (3) a presentation of research findings and a consideration of the patterns of bilingualism and cultural identity typically developed by minority children; (4) a review of theories related to learning two languages and a formulation of a cognitive "think tank model" for language learning; and (5) a consideration of the practical implications of the research findings for "heritage-language" teachers and minority parents who are eager to promote a high level of first language proficiency. The book concludes with a summary of what is known about bilingualism and children''s development. (AMH)