Lara-Alecio, R., Bass, J. & Irby, B. (2001). Science of the Maya: Teaching Ethnoscience in the Classroom. The Science Teacher, 68(3), 48-51.   This article advocates the incorporation of ethnoscience as an important part of multicultural education. There are four dimensions of multicultural education that can be tied into the implementation of ethnoscience: the integration of content, the construction of knowledge, the reduction of prejudice, and pedagogical equity. The authors explore ways to incorporate Mayan calendrical tables, myths, and symbols, as well as ways of contrasting ethnoscientific and modern scientific ways of observation, modeling, explanation, and prediction.   Lara-Alecio, R., Irby, B., & Morales-Aldanas, L. (1998). A Mathematics Lesson from the Maya Civilization Teaching Children Mathematics, 5 (3), 154-158.   Using such mathematical examples from a cultural and historical perspective, teachers can offer models of study for abstract concepts of numerals and number or amount. Not only does this approach have the advantage of modeling an abstract concept, it also has implicit ethnomathematical cultural links that could be used by the elementary school teacher to advance multicultural attitudes in the classroom and assist students of Mayan descent to feel pride in their own culture.   Lara-Alecio, R., Irby, B., & Ebener, R. (1997). Developing Academically Supportive Behavior Among Hispanic Parents: What Elementary Teachers and Administrators Can Do. Preventing School Failure, 42(1), 27-32.   In this study, Hispanic parents of academically high achieving students provided us with some clues to what parents should do to support high achievement in their children. If teachers and administrators use this knowledge to serve the Hispanic population better, then the potential for improved achievement levels among the Hispanic elementary school children will be enhanced.   Gomez, L., Parker, R., Lara-Alecio, R. Ochoa, S. H., & Gomez, R. (1996). Naturalistic Language Assessment of LEP Students in Classroom Interactions. Bilingual Research Journal, 20(1), 69-92.   The purpose of this study was to assess language competence of second language learners through observing natural interactions in transitional bilingual classrooms. We first developed an instrument in accordance with current second language acquisition theory, and obtained inter-scale reliability on observation categories. We then piloted the instrument in six Grade 5 bilingual classrooms, targeting the social language of 24 individual students. Each student was observed for a total of 12 hours during twenty-four 30-miniute sessions, over a four-week period. Resulting data were examined for measurement stability over time, criterion-related validity, and construct validity evidence (through item clustering). We also discuss the efficiency and utility of the overall naturalistic language observation procedure. Lara-Alecio, R. & Irby, B. (1996). Bilingual Education and Multicultural Education: An Inclusively Oriented Delivery System. The Journal Of Educational Issues of Language Minority Students, 17, 11-24.   This article advances an interdependent symbiotic relationship between bilingual and multicultural education. This symbiosis exists only if the bilingual education program is an inclusive one, a dual language system, and is seen and practiced as relevant, important and necessary for all students. If schools are to become multicultural in thought and action regarding their bilingual programs, then fundamental changes are necessary to develop an inclusively oriented educational system where knowledge and conditions conducive to quality and success are available to all individuals within the system. Also, combining bilingual education and multicultural educati9on to develop and inclusive educational delivery system is a practical approach for keeping native languages and native cultures alive.   Irby, B., & Lara-Alecio, R. (1996). Attributes of Hispanic Gifted Bilingual Students as perceived by Bilingual Educators in Texas. NYSABE Journal,11, 121-142.   The purpose of this study was to report the perceptions of observable characteristics that bilingual classroom teachers have regarding bilingual Hispanic students who are either currently identified as gifted or who they perceive as potentially gifted but who did not meet distinct identification criteria. The research questions, exploratory in nature, were: (1) Given a group of certified bilingual educators, to what extent would they perceive various Hispanic sociological or linguistic characteristics or attributes as well as diverse gifted characteristics, as being exhibited among identified or potentially gifted, bilingual, Hispanic students? and (2) How would the same group of bilingually certified educators perceive similarities among the characteristics that they determined as observable among identified or potentially gifted, bilingual, Hispanic students? A sample of 61 elementary (K-4) bilingual teachers in Texas volunteered to complete a ninety-item questionnaire designed by the researchers and based on an extensive review of the literature. A descriptive analysis of those items was conducted through the computation of each item mean and standard deviation, and a cluster analysis was employed that grouped the data into eleven clusters.   Lara-Alecio, R. & Parker, R. (1994). Pedagogical Model for Transitional English Bilingual Classrooms. Bilingual Research Journal: The Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education, 18 (3&4), 119-129.   A pedagogical model for transitional English bilingual classrooms is developed to meet the goals of teacher training and guidance, program evaluation, and empirical validation of bilingual theories. The pedagogical model consists of four dimensions: (a) Activity Structures, (b) Language of Instruction, (c) Language Content, and (d) Communication Mode. The model defines and integrates those theoretical principles which show most promise for pedagogical usefulness, (i.e. notions which can be translated into manipulable elements of the classroom environment). Model elements also can be adjusted or manipulated by teachers to enhance student learning. Teachers can monitor themselves through model-based observation and use the results prescriptively in planning. Importantly, the model can be translated into reliably observable and codable elements. This permits its potential use in program evaluation (formative evaluation of the learning process) and in theory validation. Link to latest award-winning research by graduate students at Texas A&M University.