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First Schools in the Colonies
First education laws were passed in Massachusetts in order to ensure that parents were teaching their children to read and that they could understand the principals of religion -
First German Schools
The first German schools were established in Philadelphia, PA where a large number of German settlers has established communities. These schools taught, for the most part, exclusively in German. -
Period: to
A time of conflicts
The 1850s - States begin passing laws banning interference with home language instruction.
1864- Congress passes a law prohibiting Native Americans to be taught in their native language.
1879- Native American children are forced to attend schools that teach only in English -
Nacionality Act passed
The first legislation requiring in-migrants to
speak English to become naturalized. -
Meyer v. Nebraska ruling by the US Supreme Court
The ruling outlawed, as an unconstitutional infringement of individual liberties, arbitrary restrictions on the teaching of languages other than English. Proficiency in a foreign language was also constitutional. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Segregated education based on race made
unconstitutional. -
National Defense and Education Act
The first federal legislation to promote
foreign language learning. -
Immigration and Nationality Act
The Act eliminated racial criteria for
admission which had hitherto largely
barred immigration by, for example,
Asians and Africans. Thus the effect was
to expand immigration especially from
Asia and Latin America. The Act also
emphasized the goal of ‘family unification’ over occupational skills. This encouraged increased immigration by
Mexicans in particular. -
Bilingual education acts
1965- Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
1968 Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA) amendment: The Bilingual Education Act, Title VII -
Lau v. Nichols
Established that language programs for
language minorities not proficient in
English where necessary to provide equal
educational opportunities. -
Castañeda v. Pickard
An Appeals court decision established a
three-part test to determine whether
schools were taking ‘appropriate action’
under the 1974 Equal Educational Opportunity Act. Programs for LEP students (bilingual or otherwise) must be: (1)
based on sound educational theory, (2)
implemented with adequate resources,
and (3) evaluated and proven effective -
Reauthorization of Bilingual Education Act Title VII of ESEA
Full bilingual proficiency is recognized as a
lawful educational goal. Funded dual-language programs that included English speakers and programs to support Native
American languages.The quota for
funding SAIP programs was lifted. The
new law sought to bring LEP students
into mainstream school reform efforts,
making it more difficult for their particular needs to be ignored in policymaking -
Proposition 227
The ‘Unz initiative’ sought to impose
severe restrictions on native-language
instruction for English learners in
California, the extent of which is still
unresolved. -
Proposition 203
Similar to California's proposition 27, the Arizonas version does away with instruction in any language besides English. -
No Child Left Behind
The Bilingual Education Act is replaced with the English language Acquisition Act. It declared that states can choose how they wish to meet the need of English language learners, so long as they establish standards of proficiency and quality academic instruction in reading and mathematics which are based on scientific research.