Bilingual Education And Public Policy In The United States

This book traces a history of bilingual education in the US, unveiling the role of politics in policy development and implementation. It introduces readers to past systemic supports for creation of diverse bilingual educational programs and situates particular instances and phases of expansion and decline within related sociopolitical backdrops.

Discusses the history of bilingual education policies in the United States.

This much-needed volume is an edited collection of primary sources that document the history of bilingual education in U.S. public schools during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Part I of the volume examines the development of dual-language programs for immigrants, colonized Mexicans, and Native Americans during the nineteenth century. Part II considers the attacks on bilingual education during the Progressive-era drive for an English-only curriculum and during the First World War. Part III explores the resurgence of bilingual activities, particularly among Spanish speakers and Native Americans, during the interwar period and details the rise of the federal government’s involvement in bilingual instruction during the post-WWII decades. Part IV of the volume examines the recent campaigns against bilingual education and explores dual-language practices in today’s classrooms. A compilation of school reports, letters, government documents, and other primary sources, this volume provides rich insights into the history of this very contentious educational policy and practice and will be of great interest to historians and language scholars, as well as to educational practitioners and policymakers.

Dual language education is a program that combines language minority and language majority students for instruction through two languages. This book provides the conceptual background for the program and discusses major implementation issues. Research findings summarize language proficiency and achievement outcomes from 8000 students at 20 schools, along with teacher and parent attitudes.

Bilingual Education in the 21st Century examines languages and bilingualism as individual and societal phenomena, presents program types, variables, and policies in bilingual education, and concludes by looking at practices, especially pedagogies and assessments. This thought-provoking work is an ideal textbook for future teachers as well as providing a fresh view of the subject for school administrators and policy makers. Provides an overview of bilingual education theories and practices throughout the world Extends traditional conceptions of bilingualism and bilingual education to include global and local concerns in the 21st century Questions assumptions regarding language, bilingualism and bilingual education, and proposes a new theoretical framework and alternative views of teaching and assessment practices Reviews international bilingual education policies, with separate chapters dedicated to US and EU language policy in education Gives reasons why bilingual education is good for all children throughout the world, and presents cases of how this is being carried out

A collection of papers on bilingual education covers these topics: (1) second-language acquisition theories relevant to bilingual education; (2) the age factor in native language maintenance and in the development of English proficiency of overseas Japanese children; (3) applying the Cummins language proficiency model to students who acquire language bimodally; (4) acquisition of Spanish sounds in two-year-old Chicanos; (5) bilingual education's role in Puerto Rican students' cultural adjustment; (6) qualitative analysis of teacher disapproval behavior; (7) assessing a community's ethnolinguistic complexity; (8) a bilingual education program effective with both Spanish and Asian language students; (9) Spanish mathematics instruction in some Texas schools; (10) oral history in bilingual social studies; and (11) a ten-year-old language learner's journal. Other topics include (1) improving vocational education for bilingual students; (2) the microcounseling approach for limited-English-proficient adults; (3) linguistic interferences among Korean students learning English; (4) scoring a Spanish informal reading inventory for bilingual students; (5) classroom observation for Spanish-speaking parents; (6) bilingual education on television; (7) the impact of state evaluation systems on limited-English-speakers; (8) issues in bilingual education policy formation; (9) language rights versus racial nondiscrimination; (10) bilingual education in higher education; (11) bilingual bicultural education; and (12) Hispanic women in higher education. (MSE)