Ebonics

J. David Ramirez is Dean of the School of Education at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus. Dr Ramirez is a nationally recognized educational leader and the former principal investigator of the Ramirez Study (the most often cited longitudinal study on bilingual education in the US and the first national study of its kind).Terrence G. Wiley is Director of the Division of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in the College of Education at Arizona State University. He is the author of several books and numerous articles on language policy, literacy, biliteracy, and language diversity. He currently co-edits, with Thomas Ricento, the Journal of Language, Identity, and Education.Gerda de Klerk is a doctoral student in the College of Education at Arizona State University. She has worked in language policy formulation and implementation issues in South Africa, where she was the editor of Bua!, a magazine popularizing sociolinguistic matters.Enid Lee is the director of Enidlee Consultants. She consults internationally on anti-racist, inclusionary, and equitable education. Enid has been involved in the professional development of teachers for two decades. She is the author of over 30 publications, including Letters to Marcia: A Teacher’s Guide to Anti-Racist Education.Wayne E. Wright is an assistant professor in the Division of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas, San Antonio. He also serves as the Co-Director of the Language Policy Research Unit of the Educational Policy Studies Laboratory at Arizona State University.

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionPart 1: Ebonics in the Urban Education Debate1 Terrence G. Wiley: Ebonics: Background to the Current Policy Debate2 John R. Rickford: Using the Vernacular to Teach the Standard3 John Baugh: Educational Implications of Ebonics4 Geneva Smitherman: Black Language and the Education of Black Children: One Mo Once5 Subira Kifano and Ernie A. Smith: Ebonics and Education in the Context of Culture: Meeting the Language and Cultural Needs of LEP African American Students6 Carolyn Temple Adger: Language Varieties in the School Curriculum: Where Do They Belong and How Will They Get There?Part 2: Background to the Ebonics DebateIntroductionOakland Unified School District’s ResolutionExamples of Legislative ReactionLegal BackgroundLinguists’ ReactionsOrganizational ResponsesRecommended Readings on Ebonics