Bilingual reform California results strongly support immersion
Editorial
The encouraging results of bilingual education reforms in California lend urgency to efforts to enact similar changes for limited-English students in Massachusetts. Two years ago, Californians voted to end bilingual education. The system, used in Massachusetts for the last 28 years, places non- English-speaking students in separate classrooms where they receive instruction in math, history, science and other subjects in their native languages while attempting to master English -- a process that typically takes three years or more. Under the new system in California, the million or so Spanish- speaking public school students who have been placed in English- speaking classes have made remarkable progress. Confounding predictions by proponents of the old-style bilingual classes, the standardized tests in both English and math showed students have improved rapidly and dramatically. The reading scores of second-graders classified as limited in English rose 9 percentage points in two years and math scores 14 percentage points. While smaller class size may have played a role, it is clear that the immersion approach enabled students to learn formal English, both written and oral, far more quickly than anyone expected. The old-style instruction outside the public school mainstream may avoid frustration students initially may feel in English-speaking classes, but comfort comes at a heavy price. The California results reaffirm that bilingual programs prolong language deficiencies rather than rectify them. Regrettably, intense political pressure from bilingual education advocates has blocked reform in Massachusetts. A reform bill proposed during the legislative session by state Sen. Guy W. Glodis, D- Worcester, was bottled up by opponents in the House. That is a shame. The California results should spur enlightened lawmakers here to redouble efforts on behalf of bilingual education reform. |