The Latino Educational Crisis Towards a New Approach to Preparing Latino Children for Success in School and in Life A_CALL_TO_ACTION_-_Rev._12 White Paper Mario Baeza November 19 2009

7/30/2019 The Latino Educational Crisis Towards a New Approach to Preparing Latino Children for Success in School and in Life A_CALL_TO_ACTION_-_Rev._12 White Paper Mario Baeza No

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The Latino Education Crisis:

Towards A New Approach to Preparing Latino

Children for Success in School and in Life

AWhite Paper

and

Call to Action

Mario L. BaezaF d d Ch i


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F d d Ch i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface ............................................................................................................................................ 3

Executive Summary....................................................................................................................... 5

Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 9

Section One: Latino Education: Is Pre -K Enough? ................................................................ 10

The Scope of the Problem. .......................................................................................................... 11

Once Behind, Never Even. .............................................................................................. 17

Lurking Behind the Achievement Gap.......................................................................... 17

The Pre-K Reform Movement.................................................................................................... 18

Different Approaches and Dissenting Voices................................................................ 19

Challenges Facing Pre-K................................................................................................. 20

Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners................................................................... 22

Current Programs for English Language Learners..................................................... 27

The Push Toward Bilingualism...................................................................................... 35

Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 37

Section Two: Childrens Educational Television...................................................................... 38

The Childrens Television Workshop Model ............................................................................ 38

Key Research into Educational Programs Effectiveness............................................ 40

Beyond Sesame Street. .................................................................................................... 41

Has Childrens Educational Television Closed the Achievement Gap?.........................42

S ti Th Cl i th G P i L ti Child t S d i S h l 44


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Preface

On March 6, 2007, with the formal launch of broadcasts over public television stations across thenation, V-Me Media, Inc. ushered in a new era of high-quality educational, informational, andentertainment programming for monolingual and bilingual Spanish speakers. V-Me is the productof a unique public/private partnership between a private investor group and WNET/Thirteen, theNew York-based flagship station of the Public Broadcasting System. V-Me was formed in largepart to fill the need for high-quality, relevant educational programming a category ofprogramming that has until now been unavailable to the millions of Spanish-speaking Latinofamilies in the United States.

V-Me has an affiliated television network of more than 35 public television stations, expected togrow to 50 stations by the end of 2009, covering virtually every major Hispanic market in thecountry. It is also distributed nationally via satellite by the Dish Satellite Networks and DirectTV. V-Me is now in 50 million U.S. homes, covering approximately 55% of all Hisp anichomes, and after digital conversion in 2009, will be in 70 million U.S. homes, covering 80percent of all Hispanic households. In 2009 V-Me will also be available free over the air and canbe received through an inexpensive digital box, replacing the over-the-air antennae.

Today, staggering numbers of Latino youngsters start school behind their non-Latino whitepeers, and can never catch up. Secondary school Latino students fare no better, suffering thehighest high school dropout rate of any ethnic or racial group in the country. The problem iscompounded by the vexing issues facing English Language Learners (ELLs). Given V-Mescurrent and future reach and televisions proven power to entertain and teach, V-Mes addedmedia resources could play a valuable role in the fight to close the Latino educationalachievement gap.

Indeed, V-Me has already begun the process. Not only does V-Me broadcast five hours per dayof childrens educational programming in Spanish, but also V-Me is actively working with theNational Institute of Early Childhood Research (NIECR) on a series of presentations and research


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Toward that end, this White Paper and Call to Action lays out a framework for an Action Agendaintended to jump-start the process of developing a new and far-reaching effort to put the proven

tools of childrens educational television and the important work of so many others to combineduse in service of closing the yawning achievement gap that divides Latino and other minoritychildren from their white peers.

We hope and expect that this effort will be the beginning of a long and worthwhile journey.

Mario L. Baeza

Founder and Chairman V-Me Media, Inc.


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Executive Summary

A variety of research studies using a range of measures have conclusively demonstrated thatLatino schoolchildren in the United States lag behind their non-Hispanic white peers. Thatachievement gap does not wait until high school or even middle school to appear, neither does itemerge during the elementary years. For the most part, Latino children arrive at theschoolhouse door already lagging. Once behind, they generally remain behind, and sufferlower test scores and higher dropout rates as a result.

This white paper examines the causes and reviews current initiatives for closing the achievement

gap as it affects Latinos, and focuses on two largely unrelated at least so far approaches: thepre-K movement and childrens educational television. It concludes with a call for a nationalconvening of stakeholders, including educators, researchers, broadcasters, policymakers,philanthropists and others, to develop a national action agenda that includes publiclybroadcasted Spanish language childrens educational television and other new on and off-linemedia delivery systems as an integral part of the strategy to combat the problem.

Section One: Latino Education: Is Pre-K Enough?

The achievement gap dividing Latino and white children is far-reaching and amply documented,and the nations schools have been and continue to be unprepared for the demographic wave thathas already begun to roll into classrooms. Key points in this area include:

Latino children enter kindergarten already in educational arrears, and on the short end of anachievement gap. That gap persists, even widens, through elementary and secondary school.For example, data gathered over the course of many years for the federal governments

National Assessment of Educational Progress reports demonstrates that by the time childrenreach fourth grade, large and persistent gaps have opened between Latino and whitechildren in both reading and math. The gap widens in the middle school years.


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Armed with compelling economic analyses, educational research and fairness and equityarguments, the pre-K movement has gained substantial national momentum in the past five

years. In all, 38 states are helping local governments finance pre-K programs and spentapproximately $4.2 billion in 2007, an increase of 75 percent from two years ago.

The effort to ramp up pre-K programs around the nation faces daunting challenges. First isthe sheer scope of the effort. By one account, it represents one of the most significantexpansions in public education in the 90 years since World War I, when kindergarten first becamestandard in public schools. Other problems include the need to expand access for Hispanicchildren, the absence of a consensus curricular approach, and the problem of making sure

programs are of high quality.

An even more significant challenge confronting the pre-K movement is the growing number ofpre-K English Language Learners (ELL) youngsters who arrive at school speaking a languageother than English. The issue has taken on particular urgency in states with large ELLpopulations, including California, New York, Texas, Florida and Illinois. Some 30 percent ofLatino children in the United States are considered English Language Learners, and according todata reported by the states, ELL children account for a little over 10 percent of the total pre-K

to twelfth grade student population. More significantly, the ELL population is growing at afaster rate than the overall student population.

From the political debate surrounding immigration issues, one might conclude that most ofthese students were undocumented immigrants. In fact, well over 90 percent of immigrantchildren are legal U.S. citizens

In general, schools offer ELL students one of four basic programs: English Immersion orStructured English Immersion; English as a Second Language (ESL), sometimes known asEnglish Plus Spanish; transitional bilingual programs in which content areas are taught in Spanishfor the first few years (usually in the kindergarten through third-grade years) while students ared l i th i E li h kill d D l L I i i hi h hild t ht


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Section Two: Childrens Educational Television

Childrens educational television has a demonstrated track record of success with children of allethnicities and income levels, and offers important opportunities to make inroads on theachievement gap. It plays an important role in the early education of Americas children. Ithas evolved so far beyond its original mission of focusing on minority and low-incomechildren, and its viewing audience is now so diverse and large, that it is no longer thought of as adedicated resource in the fight to close the achievement gap, and is instead regarded as a toolfor preparing all children for the academic challenges that await them. Key points include:

The Sesame Workshop, originally named the Childrens Television Workshop (CTW), haspioneered a research-based approach to developing its programming. Under the CTW Model,producers, researchers and educational content specialists collaborate closely throughout thelife of a project, from its initial inception through the completion of the final product. Each groupbrings its unique perspective to the table to ensure that the results will be entertaining,educationally sound, and both appealing and comprehensible to the target audience.

More than 1,000 studies have focused on Sesame Streets effectiveness alone. For example,

among three- to five-year olds, researchers found that heavier viewers ofSesame Streetshowedsignificantly greater growth than nonviewers in an assortment of academic skills related to thealphabet, sorting and classification, numbers, shapes and relational terms.

In another study, researchers followed low- SES preschoolers over a three-year period, andfound that watching educational television correlated positively with the amount of time childrenspent reading and in educational activities, as well as their letter-word knowledge, math skills,vocabulary size, and school readiness on age-appropriate standardized tests.

Other childrens educational television programs have had a similarly impressive impact.These include Dragon Tales, Between the Lions, Blues Clues and Square One TV.


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Section Three: Bridging the Gap: Towards a New Approach

Building on the popularity and proven success of dual language immersion programs,V-Me will seek to create a new genre of childrens educational television that has as its objectiveteaching not only the underlying skills Sesame Street and its progeny are known for, but alsoEnglish to Spanish speakers (of all ages) and Spanish to English speakers (of all ages). Ouremphasis on creating entertaining and educationally sound programming that also teachesEnglish to Spanish speakers and Spanish to English speakers is in line with current U.S. policy asembodied in the 1994 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which actively promotes thedevelopment of educational programs whose goal is dual language competency both for ELLs

and native English speakers.

In creating such programming, we intend to follow the successful model pioneered by SesameWorkshop (and, indeed, plan to collaborate with Sesame Workshop) and therefore we will seekkey participation from educators, curriculum specialists, language acquisition specialists,researchers (both for formative and summative research), ELL specialists, cutting edge televisionproducers, digital content specialists and digital marketing teams for new media. By targetingour digital TV programming to ELLs, we can improve their academic English (and those of their

parents and grandparents) with the concomitant benefits that they will understand more of thesubstantive lessons embodied in the educational programming they watch and will be betterprepared for success in school and society. At the same time we believe we can teach Spanish toEnglish dominant children at an age where research has shown they can effortlessly acquire asecond language to their undoubted long term benefit.

As we face the challenge of upgrading our educational system and making it more efficient andeffective for children of this generation, we can no longer justify the age-old division betweenthe pre-k movement (i.e. brick and mortar) and childrens educational television. The fact thatfor historical reasons each has evolved and remained completely separate is no reason formaintaining the status quo especially when they have overlapping missions. Thus, as a first

i f i h h L i Ed i C i i V M i d i


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Introduction

Despite decades of effort, the achievement gap between white and minority students in the UnitedStates persists. As an outgrowth of the civil rights movement and a follow-up to desegregation ofpublic schools, the nation first began to shape policy approaches to address the problem inthe 1960s. The Head Start program, still in operation despite periodic attempts to defund ordismantle it, was the first broad national attempt to address the problem. Now with more than 40years in existence, it continues to provide services to children of low-income families.

A second 1960s initiative aimed at the achievement gap was the use of public television to broadcast

childrens educational television programming, most notably Sesame Street.

Having come to life separately and been led by different communities of experts using verydifferent structures, the initiatives evolved separately as well. Today, each claims its own camp ofsupporters among key politicians, educators, activists, child psychologists, and researchers.

When these efforts began in the 1960s, the achievement gap was largely understood in white/blackterms: African American students had lower test scores and poorer grades than white students, and

the initiatives were aimed at closing the gap. But in the years since, it has also come to be seen asa white/brown issue, reflecting the sharp increase in the nations Latino population, as well as theparticular challenges Latino students face.

Despite progress over the years, the achievement gap persists. In fact, among certain Latinosubgroups, it has actually widened. This harsh reality has given rise to a renewed emphasis on pre-Kindergarten education, and an acknowledgment that additional and improved pre-K programsare needed to meet the needs of todays Latino children and children of low-income families.

But just what those programs should look like is the topic of some debate. Many argue that abricks and mortar approach is in order. Armed with research studies demonstrating thathigh-quality pre-K programs can materially improve childrens school readiness and elevate reading


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Table 2

Percentage of Children Scoring Below the Basic Level in Math

Source: National Institute for Early Education Research, Preschool Policy Brief, March 2007, Issue 13.


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Source: NAEP 2005

Source: National Institute for Early Education Research, Preshcool Policy Brief, March 2007, Issue 13.

Percentage of Children Scoring Below the Basic Level in Reading

Table 3


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Table 4

Table 5


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Table 7

Percentage of high school dropouts (status dropouts) among persons 16 to 24 years old,

by race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1972-2005

Race/Ethnicity2Year Total

1

White Black Hispanic

1972 14.6 12.3 21.3 34.3

1980 14.1 11.4 19.1 35.2

1985 12.6 10.4 15.2 27.6

1990 12.1 9.0 13.2 32.4

1995 12.0 8.6 12.1 30.0

1996 11.1 7.3 13.0 29.4

1997 11.0 7.6 13.4 25.3

1998 11.8 7.7 13.8 29.5

1999 11.2 7.3 12.6 28.6

2000 10.9 6.9 13.1 27.8

2001 10.7 7.3 10.9 27.0

2002 10.5 6.5 11.3 25.7

2003 9.9 6.3 10.9 23.5

2004 10.3 6.8 11.8 23.8

2005 9.4 6.0 10.4 22.4

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2007). The Condition of Education 2007(NCES 2007-064), Indicator 23.


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grow older, they fall farther behind, increasingly overwhelmed by academic demands for whichthey have insufficient preparation, and demoralized by a steady stream of Ds and Cs. Many

eventually drop out.

Not surprisingly, the gap persists beyond secondary school. Only 16 percent of U.S. Latinoswill earn college degrees, compared to 34 percent of whites. That number is even smaller amongforeign-born Latinos: As of 2000, only 7 percent will earn a college degree.12

Lurking Behind the Achievement Gap

The achievement gap between Latino children and white children is about more than language.Nearly 75 percent of kindergarteners from Hispanic families have one or more recognized riskfactors for failure in school, compared with 20 percent of those from non-Hispanic whitefamilies.

13Indeed, the proportion of children with two or more risk factors is five times

larger among Hispanics (33 percent) and four times larger among African American families (27percent) ... than among non-Hispanic whites (6 percent).14 Those risk factors include:

1. Having a mother with less than a high school education;

2. Poverty, as defined by whether a family is eligible for welfare or food stamps;3. Having a parent whose primary language is not English; and4. Living in a single-parent family.

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Latino children fare poorly on all four measures.

Mothers Educational Attainment. In the eight and under age group, 44 percent of Latino childrenhave mothers who did not graduate high school (versus 9 percent of non-Hispanic whites).

16Only

4 percent of Mexican-American children in immigrant families have a mother with a collegedegree, while 64 percent have a mother who did not complete high school, 36 percent have amother who did not progress beyond eighth grade, and 11 percent have a mother who did notprogress beyond fourth grade.

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governors recommended increases in state pre-K funding, proposing to infuse an additional $800million into pre-K programs and provide access to 100,000 additional three- and four-year-olds.26

The argument has also begun to resonate in Washington, D.C., where issues of globalcompetitiveness are increasingly seen as intertwined with the educational achievement of Latinos,African Americans and other minorities who will in a generation account for 40 percent of theU.S. population and an even greater percentage of the U.S. workforce.

Different Approaches and Dissenting Voices

While supporters of increased pre-K are united in their view that more investment and moreprograms are needed, they divide into two camps over the issue of how far-reaching the initiativeshould be. One view favors government-funded universal pre-K for all three- and/or four-year-olds, reflecting the belief of many educators that pre-K is the new first grade.

27A second

view favors targeting government-funded pre-K programs primarily to low-income families, onthe model of Head Start, as a way to close the achievement gap and make these children moreproductive members of society.

28This second view seems to have gained more traction at the

state government level: most existing state programs are restricted to children from homes

whose family income is below the poverty line.

The pre-K movement also has its skeptics, who generally argue that it is either an inappropriaterole for government or too costly an investment. Douglas Becharow of the American EnterpriseInstitute, for example, questions the return-on-investment findings of Dr. Rolnich and others.

29

Some critics point to the comparatively modest improvements in school readiness among lowsocioeconomic status students attributed to the Early Head Start program, a federal programaimed at infants and toddlers.

30Early Head Start Programs offer comprehensive services

including parent education, healthcare and childcare.31

Challenges Facing Pre-K


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Realistically, it will take a generation to build a much more robust early childhoodeducation system for the nations young, including young Hispanics. Major

expansions ofor changes inearly childhood systems take years to execute,as efforts by states to develop extensive pre-K programs over the past decadehave demonstrated. It can take 10 to 15 years to d esign, test andlongitudinally evaluate a new or significantly modified K-3, pre-K orinfant/toddler strategy. Moreover, it should be expected that new strategies thatshow benefits will often need to be improvedwhich can add more years to thedevelopment process. Thus, the Task Force has formulated itsrecommendations using a 5- to 20-year time horizon.

The following are several key challenges facing the pre-K movement, with respect to meeting theneeds of Latino children.

1. Expanding Access for Hispanic Children

A recent study conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center examined the percentage of Hispanicenrollment in public schools in 49 states and Washington, D.C. and found that more than 56

percent of Hispanics went to schools that were 50- to 90-percent or more Hispanic.33

That mightsuggest that Latino communities would be easier to reach with pre-K programs, but researchsuggests otherwise. For example, research by Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) and First5 California, a state government commission, found that public preschools in Los Angeles werenot, by and large, located in any of the Hispanic communities most at risk.

34Similarly, Dr. Bruce

Fuller of the University of California, Berkeley, conducted a study that found that the countieswith the densest Latino populations in Los Angeles and Chicago were the least likely to havechild-care centers and pre-K programs."35 LAUP is in the process of an ambitious, ten-year,

$500 million program, funded by First 5 California, to build or enroll in-home and center-basedprograms predominantly in Hispanic neighborhoods, find and train more teachers, and engage inoutreach to increase enrollment and parental participation. To date LAUP has created space toserve more than 14 000 of the 100 000 plus four year olds living in Los Angeles County

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One discredited explanation for the gap is the suggestion that low attendance in preschool programsby Latinos is culturally based, that Latino parents prefer to keep children at home until it is

time to go to school. A 2006 survey of 1,000 Hispanic families in ten cities conducted by theTomas Rivera Policy Institute, largely put that issue to rest. The survey found:

More than 90 percent of Hispanics felt that it is very important or somewhat important forchildren to attend pre-K.

Ninety-seven percent said they would send their children to publicly funded, voluntary pre-K if it were available in their community.

Sixty-nine percent said they believe pre-K is an important priority for the government toaddress now.

When asked what they regarded as strong arguments for the benefits of pre-K:

Eighty-five percent of the respondents cited the capacity of pre-K to help childrenlearn early literacy skills;

Eighty percent cited the opportunity to acquire social skills;

Eighty-seven percent noted the capacity of pre-K to help children learn Englishand become prepared for kindergarten.38

Indeed, survey research consistently finds that Latino families value pre-K at a 15 percent higherrate than do other populations.39 In short, the problem is not demand, but supply, andknowledge about availability and accessibility.

2. Creating a Consensus Curriculum

M ki K il bl d i hild d f bl D idi


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3. Making Sure Programs are of High Quality

Consensus has emerged around the idea that, for pre-K to work, programs must be of high quality.Dr. Steven Barnett of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), withsupport from the Pew Charitable Trusts, evaluated the programmatic elements of Head Start andother preschool programs around the nation. NIEER established stringent requirements forclass size, student-teacher ratios, teacher certification, interactivity of the curriculum and overalllearning environment. The results were mixed, with many programs deemed marginal at best.Far too many of the preschool programs available to children today are not good enough, theNIEER Report concludes. A low-quality pre-K program does not produce significant benefits in

terms of school readiness.

Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners

An even more significant challenge confronting the pre-K movement is the growing number ofpre-K English Language Learners (ELL) youngsters who arrive at school speaking a languageother than English. The issue has taken on particular urgency states with large ELL populations,including California, New York, Texas, Florida and Illinois.

Some 30 percent of Latino children in the United States are considered English Language Learners.According to data reported by the states, ELL children account for a little over 10 percent of thetotal pre-K to twelfth-grade student population.


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Table 10*

Percentage of ELL Hispanic and Non-ELL Hispanics Scoring Below the Basic Level

in Reading and Math

*Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2005. As cited in National Institute for Early EducationResearch, Preschool Policy Brief, March 2007, Issue 13.

In Texas and New York, two states with large Latino populations, the gap between ELL Latinos andnon-Hispanic whites runs as high as 60 percentage points.


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Nevertheless, Spanish-speaking ELL students are dispersing throughout the United States andincreasingly finding themselves in schools that have historically served a homogeneous

English-speaking student population and are now unprepared for ELL students. Data compiled bythe respected education research organization, Mid-Continent Research for Education andLearning (McREL), casts light on the problem. McREL looked at data spanning the decade ofthe 1990s, in the seven states of its Central Region service area Colorado, Kansas, Missouri,Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming and found huge growth in the number ofpre-K and elementary ELL students in all but one state.46

Table 13Percentage Change in Number of

Pre-K to Fifth Grade ELL Students: 1990-2000:

Colorado 163%

Kansas 87%

Missouri 43%

Nebraska 350%

North Dakota -22%

South Dakota 264%

Wyoming 59%

*Source: English Language Learners: A Growing Population, p. 2

McREL also found that few teachers in these states were trained to deal with ELL students, andthat few are bilingual. Despite the changing demographics in the states, more than 67 percent ofteachers in large towns, 58 percent of teachers in central cities and 82 percent of teachers in rural


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requirement that schools use research-based language instruction curricula to deal with ELLstudents and show annual progress toward the goal of their acquiring English proficiency.50

b. English as a Second Language

The second most common approach is English as a Second Language (ESL), sometimes known asEnglish Plus Spanish. This category includes a wide range of methodologies and levels offormality. The more formal programs resemble Structured English Immersion programs. Inmany cases, a special class will be created for ELL students to review their English languagesubjects with a bilingual teacher who will assist them, in Spanish, if necessary. In other cases,

bilingual teachers teaching in English will pause the class and explain a concept in Spanish forELL students. In some of these classes, ELL students are allowed to respond to a question orparticipate in class discussions using a combination of English and/or Spanish. The main goal ofthis kind of instruction is to establish English proficiency. However, the lack of consistentstandards, teaching methods and accountability often creates problems for schools under NCLBand has made it difficult to assess on a national basis the relative success or failure of theseprograms.

c. Transitional Bilingual Programs

The third type of program is a transitional bilingual program in which content areas are taught inSpanish for the first few years (usually in the kindergarten through third-grade years) whilestudents are developing their English skills. As ELL students become more proficient in English,they are expected to be reclassified to an all-English program. These programs have tended tobe successful, although they are not widely in use for both political reasons and the difficulty ofrecruiting qualified bilingual teachers.

Three findings from related research support this pedagogical approach:

Academic knowledge and skills acquired through one language pave the way for related


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with teachers using teaching methods that ensure childrens comprehension, and using contentlessons to convey vocabulary and language structure.

The programs generally strive for half language-minority students and half native English-speakingstudents in each classroom, and also aim to teach cross-cultural awareness.

56

Two basic models of DL programs are in use. In programs using the 50:50 approach,instruction is in Spanish for half of the day and in English for the other half. In the 90:10model, kindergarten children spend 90 percent of the day in Spanish, with the level decreasing to50 percent over a period of years (usually, by third grade), with the amount of English increasing

inversely.

More than 400 DL programs are in operation in the United States, and the number is increasingrapidly. The programs are popular both with ELL students and native English speakers. Moreimportant, they appear to be effective: research indicates that DL is an excellent model for

academic achievement for all children.57

A recent example is the current enthusiasm surrounding the DL program at Dixie Downs Elementary

School in Washington County, Utah. During its initial implementation phase, the program stirredlocal opposition to teaching Spanish and English equally in a public school. Eighteen monthslater, school officials and parents were delighted with the results. At the beginning of thefirst school year, 31 percent of first-graders were reading at grade level in English. By the endof the year, 58 percent were at grade level. The school also passed its yearly progress goals ofhaving at least 10 percent fewer children fail grade level testing than the year before.

According to school officials, 40 students opted out of the program because their parents feared

that participation could slow the progress of their monolingual children a position articulated by thelocal Citizens Council on Illegal Immigration, which argued that total immersion of non-Englishkids into English language courses, until they can join regular classes, is the only way to go.

58On

the other hand, school officials are quick to point out that 137 students transferred in from other


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learned how to work successfully together.59 Of Dixie Downs total enrollment of 516 students,330 are enrolled in the DL program.

Another example of the popularity of these programs can be found in the Liberty Bell ElementarySchool in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. In that case, the program is so popular among non-Latinos that, according to one parent, Kimberly DelSordo,

for the past several years parents have camped at the school for sign-ups since it isa first-come-first-served process. The year my first child was eligible for theprogram, the line formed on Friday evening for Monday morning enrollment. I

still remember that we were number "7" and my husband spent three nights in atent on the school sidewalk. We have never doubted that decision; we mademany good friends that weekend, and our kids have flourished in the program.

Among the most prominent studies supporting the benefits of DL is an evaluation of the KeySchool in Arlington, Virginia, where researchers found that 100 percent of Spanish-speaking ELLstudents demonstrated oral English fluency by third and sixth grades. They also found that Englishwriting samples from Spanish Speaking ELL students were indistinguishable from those of

native English speakers, and all were of high quality.

60

A somewhat older study of the Amigos Dual Immersion Program in Cambridge, Massachusetts,found that third-graders performed consistently at grade level, which included native monolingualEnglish students.

61The study also found that students from Amigos outperformed their Spanish

ELL peers in more conventional bilingual education programs (i.e., English as a Second Languageor ESL) in math and reading, as well as in Spanish and English.62 These and similar results havebeen confirmed by numerous other researchers, including a seven-year study undertaken by

the Center for Applied Linguistics, which collected data from 344 students in 11 Spanish-English DL programs around the country.63 That study concluded:

There is widespread acceptance of the value of DL programs. These


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Research conducted in the specific context of preschool also supports dual-language immersion asa promising program. In one such study, by NIECR, three- and four-year-olds were randomly

assigned to a DL class or an English-only immersion class. Approximately half the childrenwere Spanish-dominant and half English-dominant. The DL program alternated between Spanishand English classes weekly. All classrooms used the same curriculum.65 The DL program andthe English-only programs were compared on a variety of measures, including how well theyfostered students growth in language, emerging literacy and mathematical skills. According tothe researchers:

Children in both DL and EI programs made strong gains on English language

measures of achievement. No significant differences between treatment groupswere found on English language measures. However, only the DL childrenmade gains in Spanish language acquisition. In fact, Spanish language childrengained against Spanish language norms while their peers in the EI program lostground against Spanish language norms.

66

Such results are further evidence of the benefits of the dual-immersion approach, and particularly itsapplicability to preschool.

67

Apart from DL programs, the overall body of evidence on the effectiveness of bilingual programsis mixed, presumably due to the uneven quality of bilingual programs across the country. They are,for example, constrained by the shortage of trained teachers, and they encounter politicalresistance from those who paint the programs as a boutique alternative, and argue againstteaching in Spanish where tax dollars are involved.

The Push Toward Bilingualism

The push for English-only instruction stands in sharp contrast to a large body of research thatincreasingly shows that most young children are not only capable of learning two languages [butalso] that bilingualism confers cognitive, cultural and economic advantages.68 Historically,


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Subsequent research has found that bilingualism has been associated with a greater awareness ofand sensitivity to linguistic structure, an awareness that is transferred and generalized to certain

early literacy and nonverbal skills.

71

Researchers have conducted countless studies on bilingualism, touching on virtually every aspectof the way in which second and additional languages are learned, how they are processed within thebrain, whether a second language interferes with primary language acquisition or whether itenhances it, and the preferred methods in teaching a second language. Some key researchfindings related to bilinguals and bilingualism include:

Knowing more than one language leads to greater cognitive flexibility. Strongervocabulary and more diversified syntactical skills result in greater mental agility and enhancedcognitive processes.72

Although bilingual children may at first have smaller vocabularies in each language (butequal or greater vocabulary considering both languages) than monolingual children in their ownlanguage, bilinguals have a greater understanding of language structure.73

Bilingual children (four to eight years old) demonstrate a clear advantage over monolingualsin solving problems and tasks requiring specific attention to verbal and nonverbal cues. 74

In a test of the cognitive processes of students 14 to 16 years of age, bilingual students exhibitedsuperior learning strategies, after controlling for social factors, gender, scholasticachievement and language proficiency.

75

Data from a test designed to introduce syntactic ambiguity that had to be resolved in order to

make sense of problems revealed that bilingual children used more advanced cognitive andlinguistic strategies to resolve ambiguities than did monolingual children. Similarly, bilingualchildren have been found to outperform their monolingual peers in the ability to ignore redherrings and other false or irrelevant facts in answering complex questions or solving complex


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monolingual households (15.6 percent versus 4.6 percent). They also entered high schooloccupations at twice the rate of English monolinguals.77

In addition to these results, experts agree that, to achieve native-like fluency in a second language,a child needs to acquire the primary elements of the second language before age six and the finalelements before age twelve. During these early years, research demonstrates, the childsbrain can easily grasp multiple languages and will learn important inhibitory reflexes, sothat he or she will use the correct language depending on the context.78 The development ofthese inhibitory reflexes is highly correlated with superior cognitive development.

79Moreover, a

substantial body of evidence suggests that second languages are stored and activated in different

parts of the brain, thus causing no interference with primary language acquisition.

80

The ability ofthe brain to switch back and forth between language storage and activation areas is alsocorrelated to high cognitive functioning. In the field of psycholinguistics, failure to developbilingualism early in life is regarded as a missed opportunity for higher brain development. 81 Forthis and other reasons, pre-K, ELL and bilingualism advocates are coming together around issuesof early childhood education and the preferred methods for second language acquisition.

Conclusion

In sum, the Latino education crisis continues largely unabated, with no solid research or politicalconsensus on how best to address it in the context of pre-K, elementary or secondary schooling.One thing is clear: In the case of ELLs, the growing movement towards requiring EnglishImmersion as a solution is not supported by the research and it is responsible for system-widefailures in the education of ELLs, as in the case of California's major school districts. Bestpractices point to Dual Language programs as a real advance for all involved, followed bytransitional bilingual programs, both of which are backed by extensive research supporting the

cognitive and other benefits of developing and maintaining a firm grounding in one's nativelanguage, while learning a second.

Section Two: Childrens Educational Television


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enabling millions of preschool children to develop fundamental academic and cognitive skills thatbenefit them not just in elementary school, but throughout their academic experience.

Unlike the Head Start model specifically targeting, and indeed restricted to, low-income families,Sesame Street and the Childrens Television Workshop that created and produced it quicklymoved away from a commitment to help close the achievement gap. Given its runaway successwith all U.S. children in its first year, by its second season, Childrens Television Workshopleaders took the view that,

There is a basic level of literacy whose achievement opens up greatly expanded

opportunities for employment and many other privileges. WhileSesame Street

could not determine which group of students would cross the line first, it could anddid aim to ensure that the maximum number possible would do so.82

Childrens educational television continues to play an important role in the early education ofAmericas children. It has evolved so far beyond its original mission, and its viewers are sodiverse and large a group of children, that it is no longer thought of as a dedicated resource in thefight to close the achievement gap. Rather, it is regarded as a tool for preparing all children for

the academic challenges that await them.

The Childrens Television Workshop Model

The Childrens Television Workshop (CTW) was initially funded with $8 million ($57 million in2007 equivalent dollars) in grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the CarnegieFoundation and the Ford Foundation, among others.

83Its purpose was to harness the ever

broadening reach of television to serve poor children [who] had few available resources. Nursery

schools and other opportunities for formal early education experiences were in short supply.Those that did exist were available only to those families that could afford them.... Televisioncould be a way to reach many, if not most, of the children who were in need of such help.

84

Thus, CTWs initial funded mandate was to


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CTW successfully accomplished its objective by fostering collaboration among commercialproducers, educators and researchers. Under the CTW Model, producers, researchers and

educational content specialists collaborate closely throughout the life of a project, from its initialinception through the completion of the final product. Each group brings its unique perspective tothe table to ensure that the results will be entertaining, educationally sound, and both appealingand comprehensible to the target audience.

86

The emphasis on research is worth noting. CTW relies on formative research to pre-test distinctelements of the show, an approach that has proved critical to the success of the series.

87The

testing is aimed at determining whether a select group of pupils watching particular elements are

actually able to accomplish the educational objective of the tested element. Research is also aimedat bringing the childs eye to the process, answering such questions as whether a healthmessage is better carried by a green dinosaur or a red parrot, or how many times a learning unitneeds to be repeated before a three-year-old learns its content. Often, the results of formativeresearch lead to changes in the production that are made before a show airs nationally.

The second key area of research is summative research, which is used to evaluate what, in fact,children who watched the show learned, and how their performance on various tests was affected

by watching a particular show. The results of the summative research are also fed back to theproduction and curriculum teams and used to inform future decisions.

In general, summative researchers pre-test and post-test children who have seen Sesame Streetepisodes, comparing the results with a control group of children who have not, and compare howeach group performs with respect to a variety of measurements, such as vocabulary augmentation,number recognition and manipulation, etc.

This approach was created in the earliest days of the Childrens Television Workshop, and itcontinues today, even after the organization was renamed the Sesame Workshop in 2000. Testsare rigorously conducted, data is statistically controlled for factors that could influence the dataother than viewing Sesame Street age sex geographic location socioeconomic status parents


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Among three- to five-year olds, heavier viewers of Sesame Streetshowed significantlygreater growth than nonviewers in an assortment of academic skills related to the alphabet,

sorting and classification, numbers, shapes and relational terms. The areas that showed thegreatest effects have been those most emphasized on Sesame Street.89

These effects held aftercontrolling for a number of variables, including whether the viewer was a native English orSpanish speaker.90 In a follow-up study conducted a year later on the same children,kindergarten teachers rated frequent Sesame Streetviewers (not identified to them as such) asbetter prepared for school than their nonviewing peers based on such issues as verbal andquantitative readiness, attitude towards school and peer relationships.91

In another study, researchers followed low- Socio-economic Status (SES) preschoolers overa three-year period, and found that watching educational television correlated positively with theamount of time children spent reading and in educational activities, as well as their letter-wordknowledge, math skills, vocabulary size, and school readiness on age-appropriate standardizedtests.92 Teachers also rated these children as better adjusted to school.

In a 2001 study, the U.S. Department of Education analyzed data on 10,000 students datingback to 1993. Results indicated that preschoolers who viewed Sesame Streetwere better able to

recognize letters and tell connected stories when pretending to read. Moreover, in the first andsecond grade, these former preschoolers were likely to be able to read story books on their ownand were less in need of remedial help.93 Another key study found that educational televisionviewing in early childhood significantly correlated to reading and TV-watching habits inadolescence. The more youngsters watched childrens educational television early in life, themore they were interested as adolescents in watching educational programming and reading. 94

In a re-contact study looking at two segments of a high school student population, one group

whose members had been frequent viewers ofSesame Streetand other childrens educationalprogramming, and another whose members were nonviewers, researchers found that SesameStreetviewers had significantly higher grades in English, Mathematics and Science inj i hi h hi h h l Th l d b k f h d hi h d i lf


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production, found significant differences in cognitive skills, with Plaza Sesamo viewers holding aclear advantage, particularly in the areas of literacy and mathematics. 96

Beyond Sesame Street

Other childrens educational television programs have had a similarly impressive impact.

Dragon Tales is described by its creators as a school-readiness project.97 The show wasdesigned to encourage young children to pursue challenges that will help their growth anddevelopment, to help them recognize multiple ways to approach and learn from obstacles intheir lives, and to help them understand that trying and failing is a natural and valuable part oflearning.98 In a comprehensive study, Dragon Tales viewers demonstrated a significantincrease in the frequency with which they took on challenging tasks, took the lead in organizingplay with others, shared with older children, and cooperated with others. Researchers alsoconcluded that Dragon Tales helped spark considerable interaction between child and parent.

Between the Lions is designed to foster the literacy skills of its viewers, with a target audience ofchildren between the ages of three and seven. The program seeks to foster the literacy skillsof its viewers while playfully demonstrating the joys of reading.

99In a summative evaluation

of Between the Lions, 164 kindergarten and first-grade schoolchildren were tested before andafter regular exposure to the show. Children who watched Between the Lions improvedsignificantly more than the control group in the areas of letter identification, phonemicawareness, letter-sound correspondence and a general measure of reading ability. The controlledgroup watched other educational programming focused on math skills.100

Blues Clues was designed to promote mastery of thinking and problem-solving skills among

pre-K children. Research indicates it is accomplishing its objective. A study of 120 preschoolchildren found a significant gain in problem-solving skills, gains that increased over time.101

Researchers developed more than 50 different pictorial tests to assess the extent to whichregular Blues Clues viewers had learned sequencing, patterning, relational concepts,


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performed less well than the average native English-speaking children in thesample.106

Third, children from low-income families register smaller gains from watching childrenseducational television than middle- and upper-income, probably because they lack a variety ofimportant supports parents educational attainment, time spent being read to, etc. Indeed,many of these are also ELL children, and research has amply demonstrated that thecombination of risk factors is powerful.

So while childrens educational television improves the skills of low-income and ELL students,the achievement gap persists. Children who view the programs outpace the rest of their non-viewing cohorts, but the gap between different groups of viewers remains. The result is thatlow-income students, and low-income ELL students in particular, are likely to enter kindergartenalready on the short end of an achievement gap. Many of them have watched and learned fromchildrens educational television, and are likely to be more advanced than their nonviewing peers,but they are nevertheless behind.

Section Three: Closing the Gap Preparing Latino Children to

Succeed in School

As distressing as the persistence of the achievement gap between white and minority students is,there are several reasons for optimism that real progress is within reach.

First, we know we can make progress in improving students chances of succeeding in school,because weve already done it. One significant measure of that is the declining rate of highschool dropouts. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the drop-out rate for Latinostudents has declined from one in three in 1972 to just over one in five today. Over the sameperiod, African American and white dropout rates have both been cut in half. The AfricanAmerican dropout rate has declined from one in five to one in ten, while the white dropout ratehas gone from one in eight to one in sixteen. The bad news is the disparity between the different


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Fourth, we know that childrens educational television, when devised with the attention toresearch demonstrated by the Sesame Workshop, can be a most powerful tool in preparing pre-Kchildren for the classroom. Reams of data make clear that childrens educational television hasa significant impact on children who watch it. Indeed, in the sole study focused on ELL studentsin a bilingual classroom setting, researchers concluded that ELL viewers achieved stronglanguage-skill gains from viewing Between the Lions.

107

Fifth, making that record of success all the more significant is the knowledge that childrenseducational television has strong penetration into, and is very popular among, low-income, blackand Latino families, including those in which the mother does not speak English as their first

language.

108

One study found that 83 percent of children from the poorest communities wereregular viewers ofSesame Street, a higher percentage than in non-poor communities.109

Inaddition, nearly 90 percent of Latino preschoolers had watched Sesame Streetbefore startingschool, a clear indication that Latino families value childrens educational television,110 and thatthe programming is reaching these audiences.

Sixth, the growing political strength of the Latino population in the United States adds realurgency to efforts to address the issue, and real political rewards for politicians and policymakers

who are able do address it in ways that are effective and not punitive.

How best to turn these reasons for optimism into an effective, nationwide program or programsto close the Latino education gap?

Towards a New Approach to the Latino Education Crisis

Building on the popularity and proven success of dual language immersion programs, V-Me willseek to create a new genre of childrens educational television that has as its objective teaching notonly the underlying skills Sesame Street and its progeny are known for, but also English to Spanishspeakers (of all ages) and Spanish to English speakers (of all ages). Our emphasis on creatingentertaining and educationally sound programming that also teaches English to Spanish speakers and


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Latinos, many of whom come from Spanish dominant homes. For many parents, lack of Englishhas proven to be a wall that often separates them not only from teachers, but also from their ownchilds learning. The proven power of childrens educational television to be effective not only inthe classroom but to reach into the home presents unique opportunities to fashion a 21st centuryeducational experience one that allows what the teachers teach to be carried into the homewhere eager parents that have been blocked by the language barrier can, with V-mes newprogramming, participate and enrich their childs learning and themselves.

As a second phase of this Call to Action, we would like to convene and pursue collaborations withformal and informal educational institutions, new media marketing specialists, the leadership of

successful Pre-K programs, etc., to see how best to develop specialized materials and activitiesthat, together with V-Mes programming, can help support and encourage parents to moreactively and effectively participate in their childs learning.

Conclusion

For too long, Latinos and other minority students in the United States have lagged behind theirwhite peers. Their failure is not their doing. Rather, it is a reflection of their exposure to key

risk factors and the failure of a number of American institutions to acknowledge and address theproblems that result from a rapidly changing demographic profile. These children will personallybear the burden of this institutional failure for the rest of their lives. Their children, however,need not. The time for a new approach has arrived, and the necessary tools are within reach.


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About the Author

Mario L. Baeza is the founder and controlling shareholder of Baeza& Co., which was formed in 1995 in order to create the first U.S. Hispanic-owned merchant banking firm focusing on the Pan-Hispanic region. In 1996,Baeza & Co. entered into a partnership with Trust Company of the West, aglobal asset manager with approximately $90 billion under management, forthe purpose of forming TCW/Latin America Partners ("TCW/LAP"). Led byBaeza & Co., in 1997 TCW/LAP raised $230 million in committed funds andthereby became one of the pioneering Latin America-focused private equityfunds. Baeza & Co. provided the entire management team for TCW/LAPand the anchor clients for the funds TCW/LAP managed.

Mario L. Baeza served as Chairman and CEO of TCW/LAP fromits inception until 2003 and as Chairman until 2006. In 2003, Mr. Baezaformed The Baeza Group, a Hispanic-owned alternative investment firmspecializing in the management of private equity investments targeting theU.S. Hispanic domestic emerging market and hedge fund products centeredaround global macro strategies.

From 1994 to 1996, Mr. Baeza was President of WassersteinPerella International Limited and Chairman and CEO of Grupo WassersteinPerella, a Latin American focused joint venture between Baeza & Co. and

Wasserstein Perella. From 1974 to 1994, Mr. Baeza was an associate andthen, at the age of 29, became a partner of the international law firm ofDebevoise & Plimpton where he specialized in domestic and internationalmergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and the negotiation and

million records, received numerous Grammy nominations and a Grammy forbest female R&B vocal performance, 5 American Music Awards and 3Billboard Awards. She also was entered into the Guinness Book ofRecords for being the first female to have four songs in the top ten popcharts at the same time, a feat equaled only b y the Beatles. In 2004, AJMRecords and Baeza Music Publishing were awarded two ASCAP awardsfor singles released on Ashanti's second album. In 2007 AJM Recordsreleased the soundtrack to a feature film entitled, Downtown A StreetTale, featuring performances by Irene Cara and Petula Clark

In 2003, Mr. Baeza was appointed by Mayor Michael Bloombergto serve as Chair of the New York City Latin Media and EntertainmentCommission. The Commission has as its objective to make New York Cityonce again the Latin media and entertainment capital of the world. The

Commission includes prominent Latino and media industry leaders in NewYork and already has a record of notable successes.

In 2004, Mr. Baeza was a U.S. Congressional appointee to theIndependent Task Force in TV Measurement, which was created to reviewand analyze Nielsen Media Research's recruitment and samplingmethodologies, with a particular focus on their impact on people of color.The Task Force's groundbreaking report and recommendations wereaccepted wholesale by Nielsen and changed Nielsen's approach to doingbusiness in African-American, Latino and Asian communities.

In 2005, Mr. Baeza was elected Chairman of the Upper ManhattanDevelopment Zone, a quasi-public entity that is authorized to disburse over$250,000,000 in financings and investments (and in grants to non-profitcultural institutions) all for the purpose of spurring economic developmentand job growth in Harlem and the South Bronx, New York.

In 2006, after six years of work, The Baeza Group partnered withWNET/Thirteen, the flagship PBS affiliate station, to form V-Me Media,Inc., a new national Spanish language television network distributed throughthe digital channels of public television affiliate stations. The channelofficially launched on March 6, 2007 reaching over 28 million homes andwill cover over 50 million homes and 72% of the U.S. Hispanic populationby the end of 2007, making it the fastest growing and one of the most widelydistributed networks of its kind. Mr. Baeza serves as V-Me's Founder andExecutive Chairman.

Mario L. Baeza

Chairman and CEOThe Baeza Group, LLCFounder and Chairman

VMe Media, Inc.


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Appendix 1: Description of V-Mes Spanish Language and Bilingual Education

Programming

In addition to the attached, you may download this information directly from the yousenditwebsite by visiting:

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&u

fid=89A630F12B414ACE


fid=0DE46EB7468F53CB


fid=89A630F12B414ACE


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. 4.101,44.liCRITERIA FOR KEY SKILL-DEVELOPMENT AREAS THAT

SUPPORT CURRICULUMPHYSICAL

Characters serve as role models for exercise.Through the characters' physical activities,

COGNITIVE

Characters demonstrate logical thinking and


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METACOGNITIVEThe child transfers knowledge from the show tohis/her own reality when characters return homeafter exploring imaginative worlds where learningtakes place.

By "sharing" with others and observing them,characters adopt new perspectives in order tolearn. Children learn the special and ingeniousways in which animals face challenges, which leadsto critical thinking, and respect for the challengesthey themselves face.

SOCIALThe wonder of nature and respect for others is

c e n t r a l t o m a n y e p i s o d e s . T h e r e a r e m a n yopportunities to discover new places, and learnfrom experiences (places, sounds, perspectives).

Characters face "kid-problems/challenges," andyet find strategies and alternative solutions toresolve them. Whether picking up toys, learning toswim, trying out new foods, or getting dressed,realizing that situations may have differents o lu t io n s d e pe n di n g o n o n e' s p e rs p ec t iv eempowers the child to measure accomplishmentsby learning and not just by succeeding.

Through trial and error, characters see theimportance of not giving up.

ADDITIONALEDUCATIONALCURRICULUM

Traditional educational elements are incorporated inthe episodes. Characters make use of books and maps,which introduce children to basic research tools.

Episodes follow a "regular" pattern: characterf h ll d i i i d l i h i


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Programming Educational Curriculum

is proud to offer the largest,most widely distributed block of world-classeducational preschool content in Spanish TVAge-appropriate programs help preschoolchildren develop intellectually, emotionally andphysically. Each program incorporates strongcognitive and social skills modeled by empatheticcharacters that children can easily relate to.

The educational curriculum of each programdevelops the child's critical thinking, self-esteem,cognitive ability and life-long love of learning.

From color, pattern, and number recognitionto contrast and comparison, from observingbehavioral patterns in others, formulating and

expressing ideas, to establishing hypothesesand modifying knowledge, each programhighlights and reaffirms different skills.

Emotional and social development is based onacknowledging respect for others, using one'simagination, expressing emotions, followinghealthy habits and caring for the environment.

The scientific method is introduced throughobservation, measurement, categorizing,

comparison, and asking questions.

Problem-solving skills, critical thinking, andtransferring skills to reality all underpin theV-Me preschool offer. The programmingprovides a safe, positive environment forchildren as well as parents, teachers, caregiversand anyone dealing with preschoolers.

The section below provides the criteria usedin the selection ofprogramming.

VMe


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PROGRAMMING BY

CURRICULUM STRENGTH

COGNITIVE

ii

* * *

KIDS PROGRAMMINGV-Ine is proud to offer the largest, most widely distributed block of world-class educational preschool content in Spanish TV Programming from

international leaders in quality including HT Entertainment, Alliance Atlantis, Sesame Workshop, ThirteenANNET and Cromosoma.Brambly Hedge - Loveable mice teach respect for nature, elders and the community.

Five Minutes More/Cinco Minutos Mas - Innovative shorts - with characters from Jim Henson .'" - promote literacy, story telling and reading aloud to children.Connie The Cow/Connie la Vaquita - Stories, interactive games and discoveries with curious Connie, her family and her animal friends.

Cyberchase - Three friends and their cyberpal battle villains in Cyberspace. Award-winning math series for kids aged 8-12.Henry's World/EI Mundo de Henry - The extraordinary story of Henry Wiggins, an eight-year-old boy who has amazing powers whenever he eats his mother's mushy carrots.

Honk, Toot and Swo-woosh - A car, tugboat and helicopter share adventures, problem-solving skills and fun-filled, positive life lessons.Hoobs Jim Henson'srm puppet aliens promote basic discovery, research and technology.

Lunar Jim/Jim de la Luna - An animated 3D astronaut teaches preschool science and creativity through amusing adventures of discovery.Kipper Award-winning series with Kipper the Dog and pals: Tiger the terrier, Pig, and Pig's nephew Arnold.

The Baby Triplets/Las Tres Mellizas Bebes - Spain's famous mischievous Baby Triplets mix play with language and social development.Dougie in Disguise/Los Disfraces de Dougie - A boy's vivid imagination transforms his books into a world ofmagic, wisdom and creative play.

Franny's Feet/Los Pies Magicos de Franny - Learning and geography are magical fun as Franny travels the world to meet and help new friends.Musti - An inquisitive white kitten plays and learns in a colorful world.

Nouky and his Friends/Nouky y sus Amigos - Noukie the bear, Paco the donkey and Lola the cow help friends to understand the little mysteries of everyday life in each episode.Percy the Park Keeper/Percy el Guardabosque - Gentle and wise, Percy tends the park, teaches nature lessons, and helps his needy animal friends.

Plaza Sesamo - Latin American version of Sesame Street. Animation, music, and characters teach and delight preschoolers.Rubbadubbers Animated bath toys turn an everyday bathroom into a world of imagination and fantastic adventure.

7 Pets- Follows the adventures of seven baby animals who learn from each other the values of teamwork, confidence, courage, dedication, acceptance, and friendship.3 Ibid.

www.VmeTV.com

TITLE

& SKILLVitaminixBrambly

Hedge

Cinco

MinutesMas

C o n n i e

laVaquita

Cyber-chase

E lM u n d

o deHenry

HonkT o o t &

Swo-Swoosh

HoobsJ i m

d e l aLuna

Kipper

Las

T r e s

MellizasBebes

L o sDisfraces

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Rubba-dubbers

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Documents

The Latino Educational Crisis Towards a New Approach to Preparing Latino Children for Success in School and in Life A_CALL_TO_ACTION_-_Rev._12 White Paper Mario Baeza November 19 2009