The Importance Of Bilingual Education In Texas

On July 1, 1973, Congress chose to end the draft in favor of an All Volunteer Army. According to "The Professional Bulletin of Army History, No. 27," the last man was drafted in December 1972 and reported for training in June 1973. Now, not only might the renewed military draft come back but also the age of compulsory service in the meat grinder might be extended from its former limit of 26 years up to 42 years of age.

At the beginning of the century, Bilingual education was not only absent in Texas public schools, it was illegal. The “English Only” law was passed in 1918. The law made it illegal for educators to use another language in classrooms and charged educators with a misdemeanor for using languages other than English in a classroom unless the class was a foreign language class. The apparent issue with the “English Only” law in Texas is that students could not understand their teachers and were not given a real opportunity to learn English. Texas still feels the weight of poor education policies that stayed far too long. Bilingual Education was illegal in Texas until 1969.

In Dave McBride’s “Our Children Are Not Poverty Porn” he addresses the issues that arise from considering Native children, youth and families as victims. Although this may be the case there are a lot of ideas such as self-determination, “resilience” and the “ecological model” which help address the ways that these Native people can be empowered to become leaders and intellectuals, leaving the stereotypes behind.

Texas and California are two of the biggest states in America. They also comprise two of the most diverse populations in the country as well. According to Robert E. Slavin, bilingual education “refers to programs for students who are acquiring English that teach the students in their first language part of the time while English is being learned” (2012). Bilingual education can also range from education that uses almost English for instruction to instruction that teaches partly in the student’s native language and partly in English. There are many theories as to which method is most effective and which should be used in schools. With so many diverse students becoming a part of schools, one can almost never apply one perfect instructional strategy

Texas lawmakers need to examine whether the state's bilingual education programs can be more effective at teaching students English. Bilingual education is instruction in all subjects in the student's native tongue in a separate classroom with other students who

In Columbus, fiscal resources and man power are limited. Left alone, the schools in Deming have somewhat honored their commitment to a cross-border responsibility by educating students from Mexico. “The school district has done a good job in its honest desire to acknowledge the realities of a regional border life that this practice has continued” (Frase & Poston, 2000) . But this is only a small part of cross-border education, one that in isolation too easily causes other crucial needs that can more richly promote bi-national cavity to developing a strong program of dual language learning. In fact, New Mexico has established a bilingual multicultural education Act in Article 23 of the state’s constitution. This has fostered institutionalizes appreciation for linguistic and cultural variety in the state and in Columbus school districts. The serious commitment to dual language learning in the state has created educational environments that actively honor the bicultural character of the students and their families and launched bilingual and English learning programs with schools in Columbus and across New Mexico. Therefore, schools such as the ones in the Deming district will require many strong leaders for dual language learning that can bring equity issue to the table. “It will take know-how, moxie, and some shaking up in a community that has its own tempo and style of making cross-border educational changes but New Mexico has done a great job on understanding their own border identity and cross border commitments” ( Flores & Murillo,

In 1967, a senator in Texas named Ralph Yarborough introduced the Bilingual Education Act. Through this act, the federal government was to provide funds to schools to have bilingual educational programs. The act primarily focused on Spanish speaking children, but later was amended to benefit other children as well (Glavin). Several states in the United States opposed bilingual education—and in 2002, Initiative 31 was on the Colorado ballot. Initiative or Amendment 31, required schools to be taught only in English (figure 1). Parents were given the option to request bilingual education, but it would be extremely difficult for it to be accepted, due to schools having the right to deny their request. Instead, non-English speakers would be placed in an English immersion program. In this program, students would be given a year to learn English and later move to a normal classroom (“Amendment 31”). On November 5, 2002, the initiative was rejected by 55 percent (Benz 1). Considering the rejection of the initiative, Colorado began adapting programs to assist English language learners (ELLs). Nonetheless, dual-language education remains highly controversial. While bilingual education has many positive outcomes, we cannot ignore the fact that it is not 100 percent effective. Not every child learns the same; therefore, bilingual education does not provide equal opportunities for everyone. Instead of completely throwing bilingual education out the window, we should turn to alternatives

Madrid (2011) emphasizes the need for more adequate bilingual programs for Hispanic students. He states, “for students to acquire high levels of academic vocabulary, discourse, and inquiry in English to succeed in content areas; their own cultural and linguistic contexts are crucial ingredients in developing understanding of academic concepts" ( p. 8). In Forbidden Language: English Learners and Restrictive Language Policies (2010) by Gandara and Hopkins, the authors examine the failure of English-only policies instituted in California, Arizona, and Massachusetts with the intention of closing the achievement gap. Their work points to evidence that such policies have only further marginalized English language learners due to education’s emphasis on academic testing. Gandara and Hopkins call for states to foster multilingual programs in the schools that can build on the language and cultural capital of English language

There are many aspects of the United States’ education system that many people would agree need change or in the minimal improvement. One topic under the education system that has had much controversy since it was first introduced is Bilingual Education. Bilingual Education is the teaching or practice programs of two languages to teach content ranging from kindergarten to high school. Bilingual Education programs vary in levels and languages. Some programs are designed to assimilate non-english speakers into the English language, others are meant develop knowledge of a completely different foreign language. Equally the goal proficiency of the language varies drastically. Some programs are meant to teach students the basic understandings of the language in oder to write and speak it adequately and others are meant to allow the student to reach a fluency level. One of the most popular type of program would be a Spanish and English program since Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States. The most common type if bilingual program is intended to transition native Spanish speakers into the English language; this is way of helping kids assimilate into the American culture. However, the use of two languages established in the education system has been a controversial idea since first introduced. It receives differing support and has not been able to achieve a conclusive establishment in the public school system. The

I agree completetly wth you that the laws against bilingual education in the Arizona are not adequate undermining the freedom of equity education. It is sad that eventhough in Arizona there are many immigrants from different in countries living here their native language is being put aside. The fear of replacing English as the only official language in Arizona is so huge that politicians and priviligie people has establish this language laws that at the end of the day affect students learning negatively.

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.

Bilingual Education has been an increasingly controversial subject throughout education systems in America. The growing numbers of bilingual students in the country have provided much debate regarding the most effective way of instructing these students in traditional American schools. Perhaps one of the newest and fastest growing methods throughout the country has become "transitional bilingual education," a program which integrates the English language into these classroom by adding more English instruction throughout the course of the lesson. It has proved to be both beneficial to the students engaged into these programs as well as the teachers who

The history of bilingual education is not simply in the past. It is still affecting the ways that policies are being created. Many of the proactive things that are taking place regarding bilingual education, are simply things to reverse the damage that has been done in the past. It is necessary to start looking towards the future and what can be done to right the wrongs. Bilingual education is important to many people, and many people can benefit from it without even realizing it. Researchers Yoon Kyong Kim et al, points out that there is a significant lack of communication between the researchers and the policy makers (2015). This is cause for concern because while there are many facts that support bilingual education and the best program models to use, the people

It is a long going controversy in American education- whether the future leaders of our country should be educated in one, or multiple languages other than English as a standard in every school. Why is the debate so ongoing in the United States? In most other countries, foreign language education is a must in the school system, not a privilege.

In 2005, Rolstad, Mahoney, and Glass, conducted meta-analysis research of bilingual education in Arizona. Before 2000, 63% of ELL students were in an ESL program, 16% in a bilingual education program, and 13% in a transitional bilingual education program. After evaluating multiple studies, the researchers found that English instruction has been effective in Arizona. However, bilingual education has also been effective and most research states it is more effective than English only instruction as students are able to “engage” academic content in both languages. Not only can a bilingual education help ELL students academically, it can also teach students about diversity. Research shows by using the student 's’ native language, it