July 22, 1996 Contact: Jennifer McNulty (408) 459-2495; mcnulty@ua.ucsc.edu

UC SANTA CRUZ PRODUCES SERIES OF DOCUMENTARY-STYLE VIDEOS TO ASSIST TEACHERS OF BILINGUAL AND MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Teachers faced with the challenge of a classroom of students who speak different languages now have a new resource to draw on: a series of six documentary-style videotapes produced at the University of California, Santa Cruz, that demonstrate some of the most effective instructional practices being used today by teachers of linguistically and culturally diverse students.

The videotapes show real teachers at work in the classroom and feature interviews with the teachers and other experts who explain how and why these practices work. The videotapes are designed for use in teacher education and professional development programs, as well as by individual schools or school districts. The six videotapes are:

-- Profile of Effective Bilingual Teaching: Kindergarten

-- Profile of Effective Bilingual Teaching: First Grade

-- Profile of Effective Teaching in a Multilingual Classroom

-- Instructional Conversations: Understanding Through Discussion

-- Profile of Effective Two-Way Bilingual Teaching: Sixth Grade

-- Learning Together: Two-Way Bilingual Immersion Programs

Available for purchase at $40 apiece, each tape comes with a comprehensive manual that includes suggestions for using the video in workshops and other training formats.

The series, which has been in development for several years, was completed with the recent release of the last two videotapes. The video Profile of Effective Bilingual Teaching: First Grade, received the Silver Apple Award from the 1995 National Education Media Network as an outstanding film in teaching and education.

The series was produced and directed by Jon Silver under the auspices of the National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning at UCSC. The executive producer was Barry McLaughlin, a professor of psychology at UCSC and director of the center. The center, which was funded by a five-year grant from the federal Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, completed its work June 30, 1996.

"What's unique about these videotapes is that we focused on instructional practices, and the experts are the teachers," says McLaughlin. "The videotapes are designed to make the center's research accessible. The people talking are teachers, and the voices are those of teachers."

Editor's Note: The videotapes can be ordered through the UCSC Bilingual Research Center at (408) 459-3351, or by fax at (408) 459-5019, or via e-mail at brc@cats.ucsc.edu.

This release is also available on the World Wide Web at UCSC's "Services for Journalists" site (http://www.ucsc.edu/news/journalist.html) or via modem from UC NewsWire (209-244-6971).

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