The Effects of Transitional Bilingual Education On Elementary Level Minority Students

First off, it’s important to understand the difference between learning and education. Learning is the ability of an individual’s brain to acquire and retain information for a lifetime, whereas education is an aide to further strengthen a student’s learning capacity with the use of resources: teachers, libraries, classroom environment, etc. All students are essentially equal when they enter the educational environment, however students who don’t speak English have an unfair disadvantage in the american educational system.

Long before Question 2, federal laws have impacted the education of English language learners. Until the Civil Rights Act of 1964, minority students were educated in “sink or swim” English immersion classes. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin. ELLs were not offered much support in their English learning. Four years later, English language learners were specifically addressed in Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1968, also known as The Bilingual Education Act, which established federal policy for bilingual education to allocate funds for innovative programs, and recognized the unique educational disadvantages faced by non-English speaking students. Between 1978 and 1994, there were several amendments to Title VII:

• In 2001, No Child Left Behind replaced the Bilingual Education Act. This new bill was focused primarily on English Language Learners and brought about drastic change in both bilingual education and bilingualism

Around 1959, bilingual education took flight in the United States. Starting in Miami and quickly making its way San Francisco, bilingual education soon led to the Bilingual Education Act, which promoted “No Child Left Behind”. Only twenty years later, the act acquired the attention of high schools around the country. Nonetheless, bilingual education is not always taken to be the cure-all for acclimating immigrants to the United States. In his article “Aria: A Memoir of Bilingual Childhood”, Richard Rodriguez argues that students should not take part in bilingual education by explaining how it takes away individuality and a sense of family through the use of ethos, diction, and imagery; Rodriguez also uses parallelism and ethos to point out how a bilingual childhood can help students feel connected to society.

The primary goal of any school district’s English Language Learner policy should be to ensure that all students receive equitable access to the curriculum. The Office of Civil Rights memorandum (May 25, 1970) requires school districts to take affirmative steps to provide equal access to instructional program for students with limited English proficiency. The Illinois Constitution guarantees every child from kindergarten through grade 12, access to a free public education; which means, regardless of a child’s home language, he/she deserves a free and appropriate education (Illinois State Board of Education, 1998).

In the article, Speak Spanish, You’re in America!: El Huracan over language and Culture, Juan Gonzalez, a journalist and broadcaster of the daily show, Democracy Now, describes how bilingualism has impacted the United States’ modern education system. He describes an amendment that would constitute English as the official in the United States, which he believes can be a potential threat to the educational system. Gonzalez suggests that instead of having an amendment that constitutes English as the national language, American schools should implement Spanish to highlight the importance of being bilingualism in the American educational system. A constitutional amendment declaring English as the national language would be damaging to bilingual students because it would limit their capability of communicating in English or their native language, and therefore they have would fall behind in classes and will not succeed in the American educational system. To highlight the importance of bilingualism, even more the educational system should implement a variety of languages.

It may be that ideals of strong American nationalism and pride stand in the way of bilingual education. “Opponents of bilingualism, and by extension bilingual education , see the use of multiple languages as a sign that the home country's culture is being diluted by the introduction of foreign languages, viewpoints, and traditions” (Ginsberg 1). According to a video posted by USA Today, even the current US president, Donald Trump, has expressed ideals against Americans conversing in languages other than English (Trump). But the anti-bilingual attitude held by some in America needs to be reevaluated because there are just too many benefits, and not enough evidence of harms, to keep students away from the privilege of knowing more than one

I completely agree with you that the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 is a great program that provides assistance to students with limited English speaking ability. With this bill, many immigrant students have the same opportunity to learn in a new language. As you stated above, the Brown vs Board of Education Act of 1954 is one of the most important against the segregation in public school. However, we can say that more need to be done to resolve the problem of racial and segregation in this country.The supreme court had to order and reinforce the segregation ruling over and over in making sure that every student has access to an equal education regardless the color of their

One of the important landmark educational court cases, is the 1974 ruling of Lau v. Nichols. As more immigrants establish homes in the United States, they face many difficulties adapting to everyday life having English as their second language or having no knowledge of the English language at all. During 1971, San Francisco schools were integrated and created more diverse and bilingual groups of students which exemplified this issue within the school system (Developing ELL Programs). Though previous actions had been made to accommodate students with lack of English proficiency, there were still a large number of students that did not receive any help.

Bilingual Education involves teaching academic content in two languages, in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language used in accordance with the program model. Bilingual Education has been around for some time since the settlement of the Polish settlers during colonization in the 17th century. Although, Bilingual Education has been a great controversy in the United States on whether it should be taught or not, Bilingual Education in schools is necessary for the understanding and convenience of students and staffs.

It is no secret that the debate over what is the best course of action to educate our non-native English language students across the country is a highly charged topic that runs from the classroom to Capitol Hill. There have been many shifts in direction and focus of educational programs for English Language Learning (ELL) students during the past century in our nation's history. In 1968, with the passage of the Bilingual Education Act (Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) legislation was

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the Federal Bilingual Education Act of 1968, ended the War on Poverty. Bilingual education is the use of more than one language to deliver curriculum content. The bilingual education system is designed for students to become proficient in English, and also encourage students to become bi-cultural; and function in two, or more linguistic and cultural groups. The policy expressed U.S commitment to the needs of the growing number of children in the public schools, whose first language was not English. In 1968, the government passed the Bilingual Education Act, which required language minority students to be taught in both their native language and English. I myself had to undergo English as a

Jarvis encourages the reader to think of language as right, as problem, and as resource. If language was seen as right during the Civil Rights Movement, by focusing on programs to fight social inequality due to language barriers, then in the 1980s, Jarvis asserts, language was seen as problem. Jarvis states that the English-only movement that began in the 1980s, spearheaded in part by John Tanton and California Senator S.I. Hayakawa, contributed to the 1998 passing of California proposition 227. Jarvis asserts that a five-year evaluation of proposition 227 found inconclusive evidence in demonstrating whether “structured immersion” was more effective over bilingual education (pg. 273). This report suggested shifting from the immersion/bilingual debate and focusing on a new paradigm. Jarvis suggests that in search of this new paradigm, focus must be put on viewing language as a resource. For instance, Jarvis uses San Diego County Public Schools as an example of a human capital approach. This approach seeks to preserve and develop students’ first language skills, while further developing their English skills. Jarvis says it is important to recognize that bilingual success is a community

The learning environment that ELL students have in the classroom has been impacted by the history of laws and bills passed by the board of education. Many school districts all over the United States are experiencing an increase in the enrollment of students who cannot speak, read, or write English in order to fully participate in their education. Numerous pieces in history took action in order to prevent these learners from risking their loss of opportunities. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prevents discrimination based on a person’s race, color, or nationality. In Lau v. Nichols of 1974, the Supreme Court stated that school districts have to take steps in order to help ELL students conquer language barriers and to enable them to participate fully in the districts’ educational programs. The case of Plyler vs. Doe 1982 stated that no school or school district may have the ability to forbid immigrant children the access to public education. No Child Left Behind (2001): Accountability, AYP, and standardized tests for ELLs. The 1990 legal document is a “force that outlines the identification, services, and compliance of school districts to ensure equal and comprehensible instruction to ELLs.” The document was signed on August 14, 1990 into the District Court. This act was the result of a class action complaint filed on behalf of eight minority rights advocacy groups in Florida. They claimed that The State Board of Education had not complied with its obligations under federal and

In this literature review I will be discussing studies that are in favor, not in favor, and neutral on bilingual education.