Bilingual Education Policy Brief

Legislative Perspective

In the last 30 years, five watershed legislations brought bilingual education to the national forefront.

  • Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally-assisted programs.
  • President Lyndon Johnson signed the 1968 Bilingual Education Act establishing federal bilingual education policy and funding (Title VII) for teaching limited-English-proficient (LEP) students.
  • In 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the prior laws with Lau v. Nichol--a suit filed by Chinese parents---where the Court found that blaming the children for their language deficiency and leaving them to “sink or swim” in English-only classrooms “made a mockery of public education.” In its decision, the Court required public schools to remove language barriers hindering an LEP student’s equal access to an education. Today “sink or swim” policies are officially prohibited.
  • In 1974, Congress endorsed the Supreme Court ruling above by passing the Equal Educational Opportunity Act.
  • In 1994, Congress charted a new policy direction when it voted to reauthorize the 1968 Act for the fifth time. The new Act reflected the developments in educational research over the past three decades about how children acquire languages and how they excel in specific subject areas. The two principles incorporated into the Act are 1) given access to challenging curriculum, language-minority and LEP students can achieve the same high standards as other students; and 2) proficient bilingualism is a desirable goal, which can bring cognitive, academic, cultural, and economic benefits to individuals and to the nation.

Bilingual Education Approaches

Educating LEP students is primarily the responsibility of state and local governments. While federal funding partially supports LEP instruction, school districts rely heavily on state and local revenue to fund English-language acquisition programs. The programs’ major objective is for LEP students to gain English-language skills. The programs typically use what the students already know and understand---their native language---as a bridge to help students learn English. Thus, bilingual education is an instructional method that uses both the student’s native language and English in varying degrees. Examples of the types of bilingual education instruction are:

  • Dual Language Programs allow students to develop language proficiency in their native language and in English in a classroom where there are native English and native language speakers.
  • Developmental or Late-exit Bilingual Education emphasizes full bilingualism; that is, instruction in English and the native language as the student progresses academically. Students typically stay in these programs for six years before they transfer to mainstream classes. This program also yields among the highest and progressive student academic performance over time.
  • Transitional or Early-exit Bilingual Education, the most commonly used model in the U.S., emphasizes English language development with academic learning. Instruction is in the student’s native language to teach both English and academic subjects. Students typically stay in these programs one-three years.
  • Dual Immersion Bilingual Education teaches LEP and English proficient students each other’s languages in order to develop full bilingualism for both sets of students.
  • English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) is the second most commonly used approach in the U.S. With ESL, students are taught the English language with little or no use of their native language and is usually taught during specific school periods. A common, though ineffective and very-costly model is “pull-out ESL,” where students are “pulled-out” of the mainstream classroom for one or more sessions per week to get supplemental English language instruction and/or subject matter content.
  • Structured Immersion teaches students simple English with little support from or use of the student’s native language. Research findings, however, conclude that featuring English language instruction slows down academic learning and achievement in the long run.

Bilingual Education in Washington

Washington’s bilingual education programs serve students who “have English language deficiencies which impair their learning in regular classrooms.” Basic English proficiency is the goal. There is no cap on the number of students who can participate in a bilingual education program.

From 1991-1996 bilingual education enrollment statewide grew three times faster than overall student enrollment. In the past 15 years, participation in bilingual education programs grew from 12,402 students in 1985 to an estimated 60,268 students for the 2000-01 school year---representing a 486% increase! Regionally, enrollment is highest in central and southeast Washington, where most LEP students speak Spanish. In contrast, the Puget Sound area has higher concentrations of LEP students who speak any one of the Asian and Pacific Islander languages.

To asses and improve the our state’s transitional bilingual education programs, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction is statutorily required to review the program annually.

Sources: “Bilingual Education in Washington State,” OSPI, 2000; Basic Education Forecasts, Caseload Forecast Council, 1999; 2000 Supplemental Budget; “Symposium on Bilingual Education,” OSPI, 1993; “Language Explosion Hits Melting Pot Classrooms,” Seattle Times, Oct. 4, 1998; “The Shift in Languages,” Seattle Times, Oct. 4, 1998.