During the summer of 1980, educators from various regions of the United States participated in a four-week staff development program in Mexico for bilingual-bicultural education personnel. The program consisted of four one-week units: theories of bilingual education, Mexico's experience in bilingual education, theories and methods of teaching Spanish language skills, and Mexican history and culture. Sponsored by the Office of Cultural Exchange (O.C.E.) of the Mexican Ministry of Public Education, the staff development program grew out of a concern for the education of persons of Mexican origin living in the United States. Research in the area of bilingual education, along with classroom observations and teacher interviews in areas with large percentages of Mexican Americans, pointed to the need for better qualified teachers to deal with the special concerns of this minority groups. The O.C.E. staff determined that, in particular, there was a need for teachers to better understand Mexican American history and culture and their educational implications and to possess more favorable attitudes toward students of Mexican origin. The purpose of this study was two-fold: the first objective was to determine whether the anticipated positive change in attitudes toward Mexican Americans took place in the program participants. The second objective was to develop a model of bilingual-bicultural education staff development which would facilitate the systematic assessment of the implementation, progress, and effects of training. Chapter I presents the problem and setting of the study, the need for the study, and its limitations. Chapter II examines demographic data which compares the educational standing of Mexican Americans with that of the general population in the United States. The chapter also reviews the literature on bilingual-bicultural education staff development. Chapter III outlines the methodology employed in this study and includes a brief summary of each of the four units of instruction in the staff development program. Chapter IV presents the results of the study, along with a discussion of the conclusions of the study and introduces the author's model for designing future programs of bilingual-bicultural staff development.
