Issue Synthesis: In the ongoing national debate about how best to educate English learners, the focus continues to be on the effectiveness of bilingual education programs, which have existed in many states for more than 25 years. Arguing that bilingual education has failed, supporters of the English-only movement seek to curb its use in favor of English immersion programs. Their most notable success has been the June 1998 adoption by California voters of Proposition 227, an initiative that attempts to severely limit the use of native language instruction in California schools. The law is now in its first year of implementation, its impact still to be studied.

Defenders of bilingual education argue that improving the academic success of English learners is not a one-size-fits-all proposition, but, rather, a complex task requiring that students receive enough support in their home language to allow them to learn academic content while also learning English. They maintain that schools should be allowed to fine-tune programs to meet the specific needs of their students, some of whom will require more or less home language support than others. While conceding that not all such programs are well implemented, the solution, they say, is not to throw them all out, but to hold them accountable for student learning.

WestEd Research

The Redesignation Dilemma: Challenges and Choices in Fostering Meaningful Accountability for English Learners, by Robert Linquanti (2001) PDF format
This policy report focuses on the tensions and dilemmas surrounding one of the most common milestones used for defining and measuring English learners’ progress: their redesignation or reclassification from limited to fluent English proficient. The report recommends a number of strategies to improve the current situation. Its ultimate aim is to stimulate reflection and discussion about options for building a more coherent system to better ensure academic success for English learners and accountability for the programs that serve them.

Fostering Academic Success for English Language Leaners: What Do We Know? (1999)
A concise review of terms, methods, and models used, along with syntheses of high-quality research reviews and common misconceptions in educating language-minority students.

California's Proposition 227 Experience (1999)
California voters passed Proposition 227 in June 1998. This summary outlines language support and staffing in the state's schools prior to 227; the pre-election debate; campaign spending; how the vote broke down; analysis of why 227 won; and the post-227 picture.

Other WestEd Information

Culture and Language in Education Program
Culture and Language in Education is designed to expand on WestEd efforts to improve the capacity of teachers and schools to address the needs of English learners and students from a range of cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds.

Education/Policy Organizations and Agencies

Education Commission of the States (ECS)
ECS seeks to help state leaders develop and carry out policies that promote improved performance of the education system as reflected in increased learning by all citizens. Visit the State Policies, Issues, and Activities section of ECS's Information Clearinghouse for information on bilingual education.

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE)
This site makes hundreds of Internet-based education resources supported by agencies across the U.S. federal government easier to find. The quickest way to access information on bilingual education is to do so through the search function.

Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs (OBEMLA)
Established in 1974 by Congress, OBEMLA helps school districts meet their responsibility to provide equal education opportunity to limited English proficient children.

National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education (NCBE)
Funded by the U.S. Department of Education and OBEMLA, NCBE collects, analyzes, and disseminates information relating to the effective education of linguistically and culturally diverse learners in the U.S.

Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL)
Visit this regional educational laboratory's Language and Cultural Diversity page, which links to information on bilingual education.

Advocacy Groups

Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO)
CEO is a nonprofit research institution that sponsors conferences, supports research, and publishes policy briefs and monographs on issues related to race, ethnicity, assimilation, and public policy.

James Crawford’s Language Policy Website and Emporium
James Crawford, former Washington editor of Education Week, has created this site to encourage discussion of language policy issues, provide updates on current language policy developments, and report on pending language legislation.

English First
English First is a national, nonprofit, grassroots lobbying organization founded in 1986 that aims to make English America's official language. Visit its Bilingual Education Resources page.

English for the Children
This is the official Web site of California's Proposition 227, named by author Ron Unz as the "English for the Children" initiative. The site contains press releases, news reports, and research on bilingual education and the initiative.

Periodicals

Education Week
Visit EdWeek's page on bilingual education, which presents an overview of the issue and links to previous articles.