Educators poll: Set bilingual time limit

Majority of 420

The state should limit the number of years students can be in bilingual education classes, say education professionals who responded to a statewide poll released Friday.

The survey, conducted by the Association of Texas Professional Educators, found that 60 percent of the 420 educators who returned surveys favored limiting schoolchildren’s time in bilingual classes. The association, which has 77,500 members, most of them teachers, had mailed out surveys to 1,200 randomly selected members in April.

Of those who supported the limits, 86 percent recommended limits of two to four years. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

“We need to do what’s best for the kids, and it’s very important for them to learn English,” said Amy White, the association’s president and a biology teacher from Abilene. “I think we want to get the kids back into a regular classroom as soon as possible . . . I think the concern is that, being taught continuously in their native language, many children are not moving on to English.”

In addition to surveying teachers’ attitudes about bilingual education, the poll asked questions about morale, curriculum, student discipline and teacher training. The responses were analyzed by Creative Consumer Research of Houston.

The teachers’ opinions favoring limits on bilingual education run contrary to several studies about bilingual education that show students need more than four years to know a second language well enough to succeed in the classroom.

According to a 1997 George Mason University study, which tracked students from 1991 to 1996 in five large urban and suburban school districts across the nation, students in bilingual classes needed between four and seven years to become fluent in English. Students in English-only classes needed more time — between seven and 10 years — to become fluent.

Rita Haecker, president of the Austin Area Association of Bilingual Educators, said that just wanting students to become proficient in English faster won’t make them so. And the sink-or-swim approach — thrusting students prematurely into English-only classrooms — may do more harm than good, she said.

“People always want to lose weight overnight, but that’s not how it happens,” she said. “It’s the same way with learning a second language. It takes many years to learn, and I think people don’t understand how difficult it can be.”

Haecker said there are many factors involved, including how young a child is when he or she begins learning a second language, and whether or not that child had any previous schooling.

“Some of our students from Mexico or Central America come to us, and they’ve never sat in a classroom before,” she said. “They may be in fifth or sixth grade, and they are illiterate in their native language. They have no syntax in their native language to build upon to even begin to understand a second language. Kicking them out of bilingual classes will not make them learn English faster.”

Bilingual education, a continuing source of controversy, has been in the national news since May, when California residents voted overwhelmingly to dismantle that state’s bilingual program.

Texans as a whole have been far more supportive of bilingual education; the Office of Survey Research at the University of Texas found in a poll, released last month, that 72 percent supported bilingual classes.

In Austin, bilingual education is offered for students in pre-kindergarten through high school, and classes are taught in Chinese, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese.

White said the association of professional educators, which boasts membership of a third of all Texas teachers, does not support a statewide limit on bilingual education, but rather the district-by-district approach, the state already follows.

A few Texas school districts, such as Mission Independent School District in South Texas, apply limits to the number of years a student stays in a bilingual classroom. Officials with the Mission district could not be reached for comment Friday.

White added that she and other members recognize the importance of encouraging students not to lose their native tongue while learning English.

“I don’t see this as an attack on bilingual education,” she said. “We’re encouraging discussion, and that is healthy. We would like to see more discussion from parents and teachers and administrators.”

Add

Bilingual education survey results

Results from 420 responses to a written survey sent to 1,200 randomly chosen members of the Association of Texas Professional Educators. Error margin is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Bilingual education

* The state should impose a limit on the number of years a student can remain in a bilingual education program.

Strongly agree29%

Agree31%

Neutral21%

Disagree13%

Strongly disagree5%

* If you answered “strongly agree” or “agree” to the above question, generally speaking, what would you recommend as the limit for students in bilingual classes?

2 years45 %

3-4 years41%

5-6 years8%

7-8 years2%

Don’t know4%

* The current needs of bilingual education students in Texas public schools are being met.

Strongly agree9%

Agree23%

Neutral40%

Disagree22%

Strongly disagree6%

Other issues

* Would you support a state income tax dedicated to fund public education?

Yes21%

No51%

Don’t know28%

* The state of Texas should establish a voucher system that would allow parents to use tax dollars to pay for private school tuition.

Strongly agree7%

Agree11%

Neutral20%

Disagree24%

Strongly disagree38%

* The Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) is a good way to measure academic performance.

Strongly agree3%

Agree24%

Neutral16%

Disagree37%

Strongly disagree20%

* Overall, TAAS has been good for public education.

Strongly agree3%

Agree27%

Neutral14%

Disagree35%

Strongly disagree21%

* Students should be required to pass the TAAS before being promoted?

Strongly agree11%

Agree26%

Neutral18%

Disagree31%

Strongly disagree14%



Comments are closed.