ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Acknowledgements

I am most grateful to my wife and daughter who patiently and vicariously endured the difficult course involved in developing, formulating, testing and writing the thesis. In addition, they both experienced the toils of field work by sharing home visits and home interviewing. 

I am also indebted to Dr. Joshua A. Fishman, head of the Bilingual/Education Developmental Psychology Ph.D. Program. His inventiveness, by opening this area of endeavor for research and discovery, has brought opportunity and enlightenment to Hispanics and other dedicated to serve bilingual children. His humaneness, on one hand, and loyalty to science and truth, on the other, single him out as an exceptional individual. 

Dr. Ofelia Garcia, his close collaborator at Yeshiva University, was most helpful from the beginning. Her creative energy and dedication to her students awoke the spirit of industry and instilled in us the courage to continue. Dr. Moshe Anisfeld, Dr. Carl Auerbach, Dr. Gerard Hoffman and Dr. Jeffrey Crawford were most helpful aids in understanding statistics and/or introducing the very important area of computer technology applied to research and writing. I am very thankful to them for having allowed me a share o that knowledge.

Dr. Michael Gertner, also at Yeshiva, was always there, never failing when I asked for help. His expertise and erudition in linguistics were ever present during the whole editing process. My gratitude to Dr. Cobarubias, also at Yeshiva University, for his very useful comments and suggestions on several occasions throughout the course of my studies there.

My expressed gratitude to the staff of the Newark Board of Education: Dr, Anthony D’Agostino, Assistant Executive Superintendent for Elementary Programs, Miss Iris martinez Arroyo, Director of the Bilingual Education Program, Mr. Pedro Guerrero from the office of  testing; to the three principals of the schools which hosted the study, Mr. Filiberto Soto, Mr. Charles Mitchell and Mr. Jorge Almeda. My appreciation to Mrs. Rosa Gutierrez, Assistant Principal of Roberto Clemente Elementary School and members of the staff there: Mr. Luis Rivera, Mrs. Carlota Merino, Mr. Baudilio Cajigas and Mrs. Frances Irizarry.

My gratitude to friends and supporters: Awilda Perez, (collaborator in the IQ testing of subjects), Rafael Claudio, Felix Ruiz and Yeshiva University bilingual program students Oriana Linares, Milga Morales, Maritza Garcia Cordero, Hillary Wang, Elsa Chodos, Jesús Fuentes, Minerva Gabriel and Gabriela Garcia Rivera.

A final word of gratitude to Dr. William Milán for his initial role developing the program and selecting students.