Bilingual reforms should come now
In what is becoming an annual event, the Legislature's Education Committee hears testimony today on proposals to reform bilingual education in Massachusetts. This long overdue reform offers a chance for substantial improvements in learning for thousands of students. Bilingual education in Massachusetts is supposed to offer instruction in academic subjects in the students' native language while they learn English. Actually, it is holding back children in language ghettos. Last year students classified as "limited English proficient" scored 21 points below regular students in English on the MCAS scale, and 19 points below on math. A program that is supposed to help students make the transition to English sees fewer than 10 percent make that transition each year. But activists defend the program ferociously - it provides jobs and a power base. The bill offered by Sen. Guy Glodis (D-Worcester) is the best approach. It is modeled on the succesful California program to put non-English speaking children in "English immersion" for one year. Classes are taught in English, and the native language is reserved for helping children over rough spots. Don Soifer, executive vice president of the Lexington Institute, a think-tank in Arlington, Va., notes that reading scores of California's English-learning students improved by 9 percentile points, and math scores by 14 points, since the immersion requirement began in 1998. There's no reason to doubt that gains in Massachusetts would be just as significant. Parents overwhelmingly want their children to learn Engish, and the current program is a failure in meeting those hopes. This year, when MCAS begins to count for high school graduation, should finally be the year for reform. |