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Prop 227: The Effectiveness Of Bilingual Education System

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Bilingual education has been implemented in the past before, however the system in which it was run was not very functional. This dual education system was poorly funded and teachers were hired that were not fully adequate or properly trained. Bilingual education needs to be implemented at an early age for it be most effective. Prop 227 was thought to be the antidote in creating high caliber English learners. Students from minority backgrounds were given one year to learn English at an excelled rate. Unfortunately, these students were marginalized and not given sufficient assistance needed to excel in the dominant school setting or learn English fluently. Bilingual education was banned nation wide by Prop 227, however there were selective bilingual …show more content…

Our educational system focus is not on biliteracy for all students, but more so on a subtractive education for English Language Learners and an additive education for whites. One prime example is Medgar Evers High School. In Medgar Evers High School, a school in a predominantely black neighborhood, offer a highly sought after TWI program. A Two Way Immersion Program, a ambivalent program in which English-speaking children and minority language speakers are mixed in a bilingual education setting. The long-term goal of a TWI is biliteracy, cross-cultural understanding, lauded academic achievement for all, and high expectations are imposed. (Palmer, 94) The ambivalent TWI at Medgar Evers High School are flooded with white middle class students who are bussed in to these elite programs, whereas African American and minority students who would benefit the most are being shut out or disproportionately represented. Our current approach today, offering bilingual or TWI programs in certain schools, are designed to promote equality for all and help bond cultural and language difference, however instead we have a grim scenario in which minority students are excluded from these opportunities. (Palmer, …show more content…

Studies have shown that voluntary immigrants perform exceedingly better than involuntary immigrants. Asian Americans such as the Japanese, Chinese, and Punjabi Indians outperform African Americans and Latinos in school. Ogbu outlines the stark differences in involuntary and voluntary immigrants’ perceptions and opportunities, “Involuntary minorities do not have the option of returning to a homeland or reemigration; nor do they feel that white Americans have a right to discriminate against them in jobs and wages because they, too, are citizens. Furthermore, they know from generations of experience that the barriers facing them in opportunity structure are not temporary.” (Ogbu, 325) Involuntary immigrants such as African Americans have a prevalent history of being discriminated against, brought unwillingly, and offered a subpar education compared to whites. This may create distrust in the white education system we have today. (Ogbu, 318) When voluntary immigrants are blatantly discriminated against they may rationalize the discrimination by saying it is because they are “guests” in the country, they are not familiarized with the English language, or posses a American education. (Ogbu,

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On November 7, 2000, 63% of Arizona voters approved the Arizona Proposition 203, also known as English for the Children: “ [this ballot initiative] would repeal the existing bilingual education laws and change the law to require all classes to be taught in English except that pupils who are classified as ‘English Learners’ will be educated through sheltered English immersion programs during a temporary transition period. ”(Bayless, Betsey). While the English immersion program is thought to be more effective, it may not be the most suitable or appropriate method of learning for most students; Arizona Proposition 203 introduces a new program with the purpose of providing students with the best English instruction but prohibits other methods such

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Most minority students and English language learners are stuck in schools with the most new teachers.” These differences are outrageous, all due to racism either being encouraged or not monitored enough in these schools. This kind of teaching only appeals to whites, and will embolden blacks towards failure, as well as spur up hatred and criticism towards them. In another article, “‘To be white is to be racist, period,’ a high school teacher told his class,” a teacher by the name James Coursey says in a high school lecture “Am I racist? And I say yea.

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Patricia Gándara writes about the crippling segregation within our modern school system for Latino students in her essay Overcoming Triple Segregation. She examines the Latin American’s struggle for education by pointing out how not only are they segregated racially; but socioeconomically and linguistically. Gándara states that segregation towards Latinos will result small amounts of academic success and fewer citizens entering the workforce. Then the article takes a turn to advocate the use of bilingual classrooms, stating that by assimilating them into our culture, they will be able to become successful future contributing members of society. Gándara states that Latinos are forced to overcome the racial hostility placed before them, a lack

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Made in America: Immigrant Students in Our Public Schools by Dr. Laurie Olsen (1997) is an excellent book for all educators of multicultural students. The book focuses on immigrant students, who sometimes take a back-burner to other multicultural students in the education system, and discusses the unique challenges these students face in American public schools. Made in America is a collection of interviews and observations that Olsen conducted for her doctoral dissertation. Dr. Laurie Olsen is an independent consultant, the Director of the Sobrato Early Academic Language (SEAL), and previously served as director of California Tomorrow. Dr. Olsen has dedicated 50 years researching, writing, and advocating for immigrant and ELLs students in America.

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America is characterized as a country of endless opportunities and freedom. People risk their lives to escape their countries to come to this diversified and wondrous nation to have a desirable quality of life. However, foreigners face a possible likelihood of being unable to escape poverty due to their immigration status and the disadvantage of lacking educational accomplishments. Numerous Americans have become outraged over time due to the decreased employment opportunities and have placed their blame towards noncitizens. Due to the vast majority of these aliens belonging to Mexico, the racial assumption continues to be directed towards Mexicans when referring to immigrants.

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The Bilingual Education Act of 1968 has been said to be the first official federal recognition of the needs of students with limited English speaking ability (LESA). It addressed students of low income who were non- speaking and limited English speaking students. Later, many cases were brought about by people who stated that their 14th amendment was not being respected and therefore the Bilingual education act of 1968 had to be amended several

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While Mrs. Moran is considering the socioeconomic status of Tyrel’s family, she should also be considering how gender, language differences, and family dynamics affect Tyrel. M. Baruth and L. Manning suggests that African American males tend to need an alternative education to address individual needs (2013). Taking time to know the individual student and his needs should be a major priority. Language differences may also create a barrier in Tyrel’s education. If parents are non-readers or undereducated, then the meaning of many words he may hear in a learning environment will differ dramatically from the words he is exposed to at home.

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The validity of the perception that “the United States is a country made of immigrants” has been historically challenged by the government and those in power. In his book, Latino Americans: The 500-Year Legacy that Shaped a Nation, Ray Suarez provides a deep understanding of how the contributions and struggles by the Latinos in the past has shaped the present of this nation. To many “Americans,” Latinos are just new immigrants coming from their land in search of a better future. For those Latinos, however, leaving their countries, cultures, families and communities comprise the most significant sacrifice of their lives. As many other Latinos, my family migrated to the United States with the hope of a better future.

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In this sense, California encounters many English learner students in schools. Before the passing of the proposition 227, California embraces the bilingual education system. However, it is also true that the term bilingual education is quite elusive and uncertain. Tay Lesley (1971) explains that sometimes bilingual education refers as “simply to the education of non-English speaking or bilingual children, whether or not the curriculum or type of instruction is actually bilingual.” (P. 12) Lesley continues on to explain how this misleading definition of bilingual education transformed into a proper meaning.

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Primarily, the idea behind bilingual education is that ““primary and secondary school students who do not speak English well or at all should be taught in some or all subjects in their native language while they learn English” (Skrentny 179). The law targeted limited English proficiency students and especially the Hispanic community who had the high rate of dropouts at schools. While Gann, Duignan, Moore and Pachon insist on the role of Hispanic movement in supporting bilingual education, Skrentny's analysis of bilingual education demonstrates that Hispanics claimed bilingual education as a civil right issue after the emergence of bilingual education. He does not deny the role of the Hispanics but does not put the merit of bilingual education on them. In fact, Skrentny explains that the strongest support for bilingual education came from organizations such as the National Education Organization which argued that forcing immigrant children to give up their mother tongue and native culture in order to assimilate might cause important damage on the self-esteem of the children.

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Every year, a million new immigrants come to the United States. They bring their cultures and their dreams to come here to make them come true. This country is known as the land of hope and freedom. But right now, immigrants’ dreams are affected by discrimination, especially black immigrants. This is the twenty-first century, but people still treat other people based on people’s color.

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272). However, there was a disparity in the goals of bilingual education since “bilingual educators had come to see the program as a way to preserve non-English languages and cultures, … congressmen still thought of it as a bridge to help learn English” (Ravitch, 1983, pg. 275). Legislators felt that learning English would be the means by which minority students could catch up with middle-class students. Bilingual teachers, however, saw that once minority students began to feel pride in their culture at school, the divide between students would close. Additionally, eligibility for bilingual programs in the US made it possible for a student “entirely fluent in English” (Ravitch, 1983, pg. 274).

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944 Words | 4 Pages

General tracking, a practice that theoretically allows a match between student ability and level of instruction, still all too often separates children by color. That same observation holds true for special programs including programs for the gifted, for those with learning challenges, and for those for whom English is a second language. Such practices, while extant fifty years ago and in spite of this pernicious effect, were not unique to de jure segregation. They remain unaddressed in any definitive manner (Robinson 2005). In addition, this development changed and molded our American school system.

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866 Words | 4 Pages

This is occurring in a school district that is located on the “wrong” (east) side of El Paso and serves a student population that is 88.1 percent Hispanic and 73.4 percent economically disadvantaged. Dual language has helped liberate its students from the grim statistical reality that half of the Hispanic students in Texas will become dropouts: Ysleta boasts a graduation rate of 84 percent, well above both the Dallas and Houston school districts. A pioneer in dual language, Del Valle in 2005 graduated the first class to begin the program in elementary school. Instead of leaving Spanish behind for all-English classes, students were taught core subjects like algebra and world history in both Spanish and English. - See more at:

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During the 1970’s, California was in an uproar of submersion of bilingual education in the public education system. This period of permissive was a landmark for bilingual education because Lau V. Nichols marked a movement that lead to assimilation to redefine unification of the Americanization in the United States during this period. First, to understand the movement, in 1906 the Nationality Act passed that implicated the first legislation that required incoming immigrants to speak English as the dominant language (Barker, 2011). I believe in order to understand what is going on in the present you have to understand the history.

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