Bilingual Education?
When bilingual education is mentioned, several different things may come to mind to different people. The term has been loosely connected to many different forms of education, some falling in the category and others not. According to Introduction to Bilingual Education: At Issue, bilingual education, in the United States of America, primarily refers to the programs implimented in kindergarten through twelfth grade public schools to assist students lacking in English proficiency. The National Association for Bilingual Education states goals including: teaching English, nurturing academic success, assimilating immigrants to a new culture, protecting a minority group’s linguistic and cultural legacy, and assisting English speakers in learning a second language.
Bilingual education has not been mainstreamed across the United States. Even many schools in the same states have different time requirements for their bilingual student transition to all-English classes. According to the National Association for Bilingual Education, some schools implement rapid transition to all-English classes. This usually means the student will only be in bilingual education for one to three years before being fully immersed in English. Other schools have a gradual transition to all-English classes. This transition takes five to six year to complete. Research conducted by Ramirez et al (1991) and Thomas and Collier (2002) shows that students involved in gradual transition education score higher on English tests than students involved in rapid transition educations.
Methods of bilingual education include English as a second language classes, where students with lacking English proficiency are required to take special courses that teach subject in their native language, and two-way, or dual-language programs. Dual-language programs teach Spanish-speaking students English while at the same time teach English-speaking students Spanish (Medina).
States such as California, Arizona, and Massachusetts have recently created laws requiring schools to teach in English only. The method of teaching mandated by these laws is called English-immersion. While English-immersion is often classified with bilingual education, it technically does not fit in the category because instead of teaching students in their native-language as well as in English, students are taught only in English in hopes they will learn the language if it is the only thing they hear. In school district with a large concentration of students with limited English skills, such as Irving, TX, the idea of English-immersion is being shot down quickly when brought up as a way to teach students (Unmuth).
With the increased number of immigrants, stress is being put on school districts to hire bilingual educators. Rachel Feeler, a Dallas Independent School District (DISD) teacher, discussed problems in the bilingual program at DISD schools. Ms. Feeler complained about teaching to the test, referring to the TAKS test. She went on to say, “I understand that it is my duty to teach non-English speaking students, but many times I feel that I am paying no attention to the native-English speakers. It’s a delicate balance, almost impossible to reach, to educate both spectrums of students appropriately.” DISD has English as a second language classes, but students are often put in all-English classes and do not retain the material. In the DISD school district, Ms. Feeler said, there is a lot of stress put on the teachers to make the children pass the TAKS test. Teaching to the test takes away from the student’s overall education, and provides them with mainly language arts and mathematics skills.
The stress put on DISD to hire bilingual educators is much more intense than many of the suburbs of Dallas. Eager to hire teachers for Bilingual education programs, the Dallas public school system assigned fake Social Security numbers to newly hired foreigners so it could get them on the payroll quickly” (Kovach). This practice was discovered by an internal investigation. Further investigation of the matter will likely involve the Social Security Administration and the district attorney’s office.
Critics of bilingual education, such as Michelle R. Wood, author of “ESL and bilingual education as a proxy for racial and ethnic segregation in U.S. public schools”, point out that many students are put into bilingual programs despite English fluency. Other critics “maintain that the best way of teaching English to non-English speakers is not to instruct them in their home language but instead to immerse them in English” (Medina). Critics also complain about the lengthy transition period to all-English classes, saying that time spent in the student’s native tongue over three or four years is a waste of time and opportunity.
The dropout rate of high schools strengthens critic’s position. They “attribute much of the thirty percent high-school dropout rate among Hispanic children to their confinement to Spanish-only classrooms” (Medina). In spite of years of bilingual education, national dropout rates remain highest in ethnic groups.
Although the dropout rate does remain highest in ethnic groups, many successful students arise from bilingual programs. Nelsy Flores, a Nampa High senior and a Honduras immigrant, came to the United States just four years ago when a hurricane left her family homeless. Knowing little English Nelsy was enrolled in bilingual education. Her hard work has paid off. Nelsy is now fluent in English; she is graduating with a 3.85 grade point average and plans to attend Boise State University. Nelsy has become an inspiration in her community. She has also helped grow the Bilingual Education Student Organization at Nampa High to over fifty members (Forester).
Even supporters of bilingual education say that programs must be “well designed and well implemented” (NABE). In West Liberty, Iowa, approximately forty-eight percent of the 1,200 schoolchildren are Hispanic. The superintendent, Becky Rodocker, enjoys the idea of bilingual education; however, she complains that “with the federal No Child Left Behind Act pushing schools to improve instruction for immigrant as well as U.S.-born students, raising test scores will be no easy task” (Richard).
While bilingual education should not be abolished in any state, improvements must be made to insure students have the opportunity to receive an education. Perhaps a nationally delegated program to streamline bilingual education without cutting students short would help solve this issue.
Bilingual education will eventually ensure that more residents of the United States are able to understand each other by providing a common language. If bilingual education were to be eliminated, the number of uneducated foreigners would jump, as would high school dropout rates among ethnic groups.
Works Cited
“Bilingual Education.” National Association for Bilingual Education. 2004. .
Feeler, Rachel. Personal interview. 07 Nov 2008.
Forester, Sandra. ‘I’m my mom’s American dream,’ says Nampa senior.” Idaho Statesman, The (Boise, ID). 04 May 2006.
Kovach, Gretel C. Use of False Hiring Data IS Found in Dallas Schools.” New York Times, The (New York City, NY). 15 Nov 2008.
Medina, Loreta. “Introduction to Bilingual Education: At Issue.” At Issue: Bilingual Education. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003.
Richard, Alan. “Immigrants in the Heartland: Immigrants Trigger Chance, White Exodus in Iowa District.” Education Week. Editorial Projects in Education, Inc., 2005.
Seder, Richard C. “Bilingual Education.” RPPI. Los Angeles: 1998.
Unmuth, Katherine Leal. “Educators at odds over bilingual classes: Irving: Bill would let schools choose English immersion.” Dallas Morning News (Dallas, TX). 18 March 2007.
