Bilingual Boondoggle?
Editorial
A LITTLE over two years ago, a group of Latino parents began picketing Los Angeles schools because their children weren't learning English. That grass-roots campaign soon turned into a successful bid to rid California's schools of the 30-year-old system of bilingual education and instead immerse Spanish-speaking students in learning the English language. Now, the results are starting to come in and they are striking. Standardized test scores for students in the English-only classrooms increased by as much as 50 percent for some grades. The average reading score for second-grade students rose by 9 percentage points over the last two years, to the 28th percentile. Those students also found their math scores went up from the 27th percentile to the 41st percentile. Not bad, considering predictions that Proposition 227, which mandates that California's foreign-language students be educated in English for a year before being switched to mainstream classrooms, would result in children dropping out of school and even lower test scores. The new teaching method has made converts out of some bilingual advocates, and it's catching on in other states. Arizona, New York, Colorado, and Massachusetts are all considering banning bilingual education. Critics, however, say other changes in California's schools, such as smaller class sizes, more state aid, and a phonics approach to reading are behind the higher test scores. In New Jersey, students are required to study all their subjects in English within three years, unlike in California, where there was no time limit for staying in the bilingual program. Although that makes the bilingual education experience here somewhat different from California's, there is still much to learn from the immersion method. For instance, it could clarify the debate over how quickly a young student can learn English. Although some educators believe it takes up to six or seven years for children to learn a new language, many of the younger children in California were found to learn English within nine months. Does that mean, for example, that New Jersey should rethink its recent decision to send preschoolers to bilingual classes? (The state does allow parents to refuse bilingual classes for their children.) Still, immersion may not be for everyone. Older students may not learn languages as quickly and could suffer from such a drastic change. California students in the 10th and 11th grades saw increases in their test scores that were below four percentage points. Some bilingual advocates here, such as Assemblyman Rudy Garcia, D- Union City, say that despite the new evidence, they still believe it's in the best interests of children to study their basic subjects in their native tongue while they learn English, so they don't fall behind their peers. Others, such as state Education Department and New Jersey School Boards Association officials, say the findings are interesting and they're eager to take a closer look. That's a good sign. With the new school year set to begin, it's important to reevaluate how things are done and determine if there are better ways to teach our children. And the California test results show that the English immersion technique is something worth exploring. |