Language & Education Policy, Instructional Models and Programs
Evolution of Federal Policy
Title VII Bilingual Act - provided grants to school districts and other eligible entities. Goal: Help ELLs achieve fluency in English
No Child Left Behind (2002) - accountability through high stakes testing in English Language Arts/reading & Mathematics
Flawed, Unrealistic expectations, overreliance on high stakes testing = more harm than good
Race to the Top (2009) - adopt college & career readiness standards & develop high quality assessments that are valid and reliable to all students. Critics - needs of ELLs not being addressed adequately enough.
Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) - Established more flexible and reasonable expectations for ELLs
State-Led Initiatives
Common Core: essential knowledge and skills that all students need. Does not specifically address ELLs, but does include specific language standards.
ELL advocates divided
Increasing the standards and use of high stakes testing will leave ELLs further behind.
Common Core standards provide the opportunity to make much needed changes that lead to higher levels of achievement,
Variance - state by state approaches have led to different policies being enacted.
Some have strong bilingual programs
Few state restrict bilingual programs but also don't require them
Nearly half have professional organizations for bilingual education
Important Core Decisions & Legislation
Brown v. Board of Ed. - ELLs cannot be fully segregated from other students
Lau v. Nichols (1974) - No equal treatment by providing the same facilities, textbooks, teachers, and curriculum for students who do not understand English
Castaneda v. Pickard (1981) - Court did not support demands for bilingual education
Cases regarding ELL education show reluctancy of courts to mandate a model or give language minorities rights related to the use of home languages
English as a Second Language
Pull-Out English as a Second Language
In-Class English as a Second Language
Home Language Instruction
Sheltered Instruction
Bilingual Strategies & Translanguaging Pedagogy
Support students engaging with and comprehending complex content & texts
Provide opportunities for students to develop linguistic practices for academic contexts
Make space for students' bilingualism
Supporting students' bilingual identities
Bilingual Models
Transitional Bilingual Models (Most common)
Problems include segregating ELL population, assumption of proficiency in 2-3 years, and a deficit view of ELLs
Developmental Bilingual Education - aim to help students develop students both English and their home language
One-Way vs Two-Way Immersion
One-way immersion programs serve students who all speak the same home language
Two-way immersion - serve both English speakers and ELLs from the same language background
% of time allocated to each language for instruction purposes -- most common models 50/50 & 90/10
Key Takeaways:
Table 5.4 (Wright 120) - Note the forms of Monolingual Forms of Education, weak forms of bilingual education, and strong forms of bilingual education
Strong forms of bilingual education require greater collaboration and resources, but create a learning environment that is in the best interest of ELLs and will likely bring about the greatest desired results.
No single model is appropriate for all schools in all settings - know your students
Determining the appropriateness of programs can be done by considering the language goals, academic goals, cultural goals, and the profile of your students
The presence of state and federal policies have created a confusing arena for educators to work in. While progress has been made through legislation, court cases, and advocacy, a great deal of variance still exists in the experiences that students will receive.
Sink or Swim - lack of training & experience, underfunding & resources available, and/or neglect have led to harmful practices that do not address the needs of ELLs
Policies that promote the use of high-stakes testing to evaluate ELLs language & content development are often harmful.
Advancing legislation has provided opportunities for change to take place in how we approach educating ELLs & pushes the discussion forward