In This Time Of Rapid Change And Increasing Attention To

More young americans nowadays are being raised in homes speaking non-English, but these students are falling behind in schools where there is not a bilingual program available. According to the U.S. Department of Education, in schools without a bilingual education program, 71% of English speakers are at or above the basic requirements for fourth grade reading while merely 30% of non-English speakers reach this level. 35% of English and 8% of non-English speakers reach proficient reading levels while only 9% of English and 1% of non-English speakers perform at advanced levels. It’s evident that the availability of a bilingual program is crucial to the success of an individual who needs the resources that can be given to them through the use of bilingual education. The percentages of the non-English speaking students previously mentioned could undoubtedly be comparable to those percentages of the English speaking students if the education they were being provided with was cohesive to their comfortability, and the material being taught was in a language they could better understand.

Cultural Diversity has lead schools to promote dual language and bilingual programs for ELL students. However, raising bilingual children according to Marsha Rosenberg is not something that simply happens. Parents must carefully consider how they will raise their children in their new culture. Unfortunately, many parents often forget that neglecting their primary language in the process of raising their children will only hurt them in the long run. However, what they fail to understand is that our current society insists on developing diverse learners, who can speak two or more languages and are diverse (Gensee, n.d). Therefore, in order to raise bilingual students they parents must provide the children with rich experiences at home as well as in a variety of settings (Broekhuizen, n.d.). Furthermore, families need to maintain a close family unity and sense of belonging when dealing with the bilingual issue at home.

Many people still debate the benefits of bilingual education. Even if the program were supported, there would be no way to insure that it has successfully achieved its goal. “The problem with this method (bilingual education) is that there is no objective way to measure whether a child has learned enough English to be placed in class where academic instruction is entirely in English. As a result, some children have been kept in native language classes for six years” (Hayakawa 577). Not only is there no way to measure if a student is ready to be out of the program, those students who were stuck in the program for several years infers the feeling of being out-casted. Children complain of systematically being segregated from their English-speaking peers being put in to the bilingual

Furthermore, Vonderlack-Navarro suggest another beneficial way to support English language learners is to involve parents in the students’ education. Because of the language barriers, education levels, and culture, this goal will not be a stress-free assignment; however, once the parents have “buy-in” and trust the school systems, the goal would be accomplished (Stover,

Introduction - Being a part of a bilingual speaking family, like with my mom and dad who are Chinese immigrants, is an experience that no one can imagine unless you are part of a bilingual speaking family. Experiences such as knowing a language that not many of our neighbors don't know can be frustrating for both sides. Being young in my early years, learning English was not only a struggle for me but for my family. I noticed that my parents struggled learning english and communicating with the outside world. From buying groceries to paying for the bills, I observed the painful experiences that my parents persevere through all these years. I was glad public schools gave me the opportunity to not only learn English but to help my family live in this English superior society.

Based upon the Bilingual Education Act of 1968, all English Language Learners (ELLs) “shall be kept in an adequate program until they can read, write, and comprehend English well enough to participate meaningfully in all aspects of the school’s curriculum (Education Commission of the States (ECS) website, n.d., para. 4). While keeping these parameters in mind, I began taking a closer look at the support my school district has in place to aid in the education of ELLs (primarily Hispanic) and their families. Drawing upon my years spent at both the elementary and secondary levels in my district, I would conclude that there is not enough being done to ensure that our ELLs can meaningfully

In San Antonio, a number of local school districts are working to convert and improve their bilingual education models into dual language programs in an effort to fully integrate ELs’ home languages into instruction.

Many parents want their children to be enrolled in bilingual education programs so that they may receive the knowledge of the English language while at the same time keep their current and be active with their cultural heritage. Bilingual education is another avenue that needs to be explored by more school districts across the nation because children should learn that there are other forms of communication. High schools require their students to take a foreign language before graduating, so why is this form of bilingual education accepted; yet an elementary bilingual program is under constant criticism? Bilingual people are rewarded in today's society by the higher wages and better positions. The scorn of the bilingual education programs that

These particular classes are equipped with an aide to assist teachers with small groups, translation services or any other assistance that is needed. Through these services, students are receiving instruction through interactive teaching techniques that better support the students learning needs. Currently, about 40% of the school are being serviced through our bilingual and ESL classes, leaving an additional 20% of students who are identified as limited English proficient educational needs unmet because of a parental statement denying services when enrolling into school. In addition to this, our districts multilingual department offers services to the parents of English language learners through “Latino Family Literacy.” This family reading program teaches parents the importance of establishing a family reading routine with their child, while also helping both parents and students learn English vocabulary, together as a family.

This model supports the use of both the native language and the new language within the daily teaching curriculum (Ray, 2008). The No Child Left Behind Act threatens the Dual Language method and negatively impacts bilingual education because of the high degree of emphasis that is placed on standardized testing. The weight of standardized testing that is felt from the state all the way down to the classroom level has forced curriculum to focus on the passing of these tests. Because bilingual students must take the standardized test in English, this has caused a shift in the landscape of bilingual education. Teachers of bilingual students are abandoning the DL method in favor of a more English only environment as a means to help students pass standardized tests (Ray, 2008). This negates the purpose of bilingual education and decreases the benefits that these students receive while learning in a dual language

Furthermore, sometimes educators may be challenged in recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of Latino English language learner student’s due to a lack of relationship between them. As stated by Campos et al (2011) that “collaboration with parents comes easy when they know you are genuinely interested in being a part of their community” (p. 102). For example, educators need to find ways to show their students and parents that they care about them outside of the school. Campos et al suggested two organizations and programs that are designed to promote student and family learning, specifically Latino English language learner. They are as following:

When examining the District handbook, it is clear that West Chicago highly values student achievement and seeks to create lifelong learners. The handbook is reviewed every year and the district values and asks for the input of students and parents in order to increase investment. Throughout its history “Providing a foundation for excellence in learning” has been the district’s vision. This, coupled with its mission statement: “To impart the knowledge and skills that will empower all students to pursue their maximum potential to confidently contribute to and benefit from our society locally and globally,” inform their policies and attitude towards all students, especially English Language Learners. In a Frequently Asked Questions portion, the District answers the question of whether students will fall behind due to learning an extra language by explaining that dual language is a form of enriched education and that learning two languages has many cognitive benefits as evidenced by research that has shown how students who participate in Dual Language programs outperform their peers on standardized tests.

Many Hispanic families are living in poverty; the children are depended upon to provide for the family as soon as they can. Unfortunately, education becomes second on the priority list. Author Goldenberg, (2004), claims that parents of ELL students do value their children’s education. The author states that parents are heavily involved in making sure their children finish their homework; they participate in parent-teacher meetings and attend school-based parent meetings. From my experience of raising four children, I’ve experienced and have interacted with many E LL parents. I can concur with the author Goldenberg that parents of ELL students do value education. The issues that lie are not based on the fact that they value or don’t value, but more on the inability to support the children in their educational journey. Language exhibits a major barrier to ELL parent-school collaboration. Many ELL parents often feel alienation, misunderstood, or intimidated by their lack of native English skills. Since most school staff are limited by their inability to speak effectively and regularly with ELL parents, this two-way language barrier often prevents and hinders all forms of oral and written communications between school and home (Waterman & Harry, 2008). As one source concurs, author Xiang, (2015), briefly highlights “the three Rs in building a positive and effective ESL learning environment: relationships, resources, and routines” (Xiang, L., 2010,

It is important as a teacher to make sure that they communicate with English Language Learners parents. ELL parents may have a difficult time becoming involved in their student’s academics because they might not know the English language as well. As a teacher, I will want to help the ELL parents as much as possible. I will inform the parents that I am here to help them in any way possible. And that I have found some very helpful community resources that aid in English acquisition and serve immigrant families that may be able to help them out. There might be a lot of questions that the ELL parents might have that as a teacher I will not know the answer, this is when the community resource can help them out. It was mentioned that when someone

An alarming number of Native American adolescents and young adults struggle with literacy. Today, many are substantially behind in reading abilities than their peers in previous generations. In today’s world, this is not good, considering how many jobs require high literacy skills. People need to be aware of this literacy crisis in order to help fix it and allow generations of the future to catch up and enjoy successful lives. Literacy is crucial for lucrative futures.