A Computer-Assisted Bilingual/Bicultural Teacher Education Program (Spanish/ English).

Overview & Synopsis

The purpose of this project was to accomplish two goals: (1) to provide the school district of Lancaster (Pennsylvania) with an inservice program for teachers in the bilingual education program; and (2) to develop a computer-assisted bilingual education teacher training program. Seven two-day workshops were held. In addition to providing inservice training, these workshops collected and experimented with materials for the computer-assisted (CAI) bilingual education teacher training program. A two-week summer workshop was also held for about 20 participants, for two purposes: (1) to review and assist with the development of the CAI program, and (2) to participate in seminars and independent study in bilingual education. During the workshops, changes were observed in teacher behavior, attitudes, classroom procedures, and curriculum. The CAI bilingual education teacher training program was designed for preservice and inservice teachers and for administrators and other teachers working with bilingual communities. It contains four units: (1) language teaching in bilingual education, (2) culture and community in bilingual education, (3) curriculum and instruction in bilingual education, and (4) assessment in bilingual education. (Author/CFM)