As a result, English as a Second Language, once the province of specialists, has become the concern of mainstream educators. For any teacher pressed into service as an ESL teacher, Piper's book offers help. It explains the dynamics involved as children work through the process of second language acquisition. Piper distinguishes, for example, between the way a second language is learned at home versus the way it is learned in school. The author presents vital concepts that support the practitioner in making informed instructional decisions.
Children are capable of learning two languages simultaneously without damaging either.
For administrators faced with the task of planning a bilingual program, Piper provides an encylopedic listing of the many different types of programs and suggests guidelines for choosing the appropriate program for a particular school's needs. Robert E. Slavin, Nancy L. Karweit, and Barbara A. Wasik. Preventing Early School Failure does a thorough job of evaluating early intervention projects designed to prevent reading failure in the early grades. The review of each intervention closely examines its true effect on student success and its replicative potential. These factors were deemed important because, if students learn to read at an early age, less money has to be spent on remediation in the future.