The World of ELLs and Their Teachers Flashcards
What was bilingual education like in the US before the 1960s?
Non-English speakers were given little to no support. They were expected to assimilate to school culture quickly. Some schools with high immigrant populations provided scaffolds but there was no federal funding towards this group of learners. This led to high drop out rates.
Why? A fear that America would “lose its identity”. English fluency was added as a part of the naturalization process.
What is the different between bilingual instruction programs and ESL instruction programs?
Bilingual uses the students L1 and transitions to English over time. Some phase out L1 but others target full biliteracy as a goal.
ESL provides English-only instruction with occasional use of L1 to support.
Although research shows bilingual instruction has most benefits, ESL is more common.
What are the three most common language instruction education programs? (LIEPs)
-Transitional Bilingual Education
-Developmental Bilingual Education
-Dual immersion/two-way immersion
What is transitional bilingual education?
Students receive all instruction in L1 and then transition to mainstream L2 curriculum/instruction within 2-3 years.
L1 proficiency is not the goal. L1 literacy is often not taught explicitly.
L1 is used as a bridge towards L2.
Students in this program often struggle with the mainstream curriculum and require additional support after the switch.
What is developmental bilingual education?
Same as transitional bilingual education (start with L1) but the goal is biliteracy (proficiency in L1 and L2).
Called “late-exit” because students typically complete the program in 6th - 8th grade
What is dual immersion or two-way immersion?
-King school!
-Goal is for full bilingualism for the entire school population (ELs and native English speakers)
-Commonly start with higher proportion of L2/L1 (80/20 or 90/10) in early grades and transition to 50/50 later.
What is a newcomer program?
-For students in grades 6-12 who have experienced interrupted schooling or no schooling
-These students cannot thrive in typical ESL classes or mainstream because of their lack of basic literacy skills
What are heritage language programs?
Heritage languages are spoken at a student’s home or by their ancestors. Students may have a strong desire to learn or retain these languages.
These programs often exist in weekend or after school settings.
Native American communities felt threatened by Prop 203 passed that limited ESL full immersion to 1 year.
What is STRUCTURED English immersion? (SEI)
-designed to transition ELLs to mainstream classrooms quickly
-SEI focuses on teaching rules and forms of English and defers academic content for when students are in the mainstream classrooms
-Critics argue that teaching complex English structures at early stages of instruction is controversial
What is Title VI? (civil rights act of 1965)
-Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program that is federally funded
-Protects ELL students by requiring schools to give them services, not allowing schools to classify them as special needs students, and holds the program quality accountable (language proficiency is the goal).
What is the Bilingual Education Act of 1968?
-Name given to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) passed in 1965
-Part of President Johnson’s War on Poverty (without education - cycle of poverty continues)
- Provided federal funding for districts to develop bilingual programs but offered no guidelines on how they should operate
- Elevated ELL rights as a separate concern from racial discrimination
What was the Lau vs. Nichols case and why is it important for ELs?
In 1970’s in California, there was no English language instruction for Chinese language speakers.
Unanimously agreed that this violated the Civil rights act of 1965 and those students were not granted equal access to educational opportunities
What is No Child Left Behind and how did it impact ELs?
NCLB was an effort that required school accountability through annual standardized testing
-NCLB required that states track 3 annual measurable achievement objectives (2 about ELL English proficiency and 1 about ELL progress toward content standards)
-Many states failed on the content standards objective and therefore lost funding and resources
What is the every student succeeds act?
-ESSA provided discretion in how to measure school success unlike NCLB
-measures the progress of ELLs and sets a standard for identifying, entering, and exiting the program
-also allows the first 2 years of ELs content test results to be exempt from their reports
What was the Castaneda vs Pickard case?
-in 1978 in Texas
-father of two kids sued the district for placing kids in a language segregated classroom
-resulted in the Castaneda test, which assess whether EL programs are effective
What was Plyler v. Doe case?
-A Supreme Court case that ruled against children being denied education based on their immigration status
-Still debates/cases today about college students who were denied in-state tuition benefits or students being reported to immigration authorities in enrollment processes
What was Proposition 227?
-In 1998 in California
-ended bilingual programs because it required ESL students to enroll in one-year English immersion programs then transition to mainstream content classrooms
-results were mixed