Education detail

Bilingual Education Policies

By lhaake48

  • 1839

    Ohio passes the first law to officially allow Bilingual Education. The law permitted German-English instruction upon the request of the parent. Cincinnati’s first bilingual school was founded to aid the large German population.

  • 1889

    Bennett Act (Wisconsin) and Edwards Act (Illinois)Children ages eight to fourteen in both public and private schools must be instructed in English in the “three ’R’s” (reading, writing, and arithmetic) and American History.

  • 1906

    Nationality Act Congress’ first federal language law requiring that all immigrants seeking naturalization speak English. The law theoretically should have solved the Bilingual Education issue.

  • Meyer vs. Nebraska

    The United States supreme court ruled that Nebraska law restricting foreign language education violated the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Proficiency in a foreign language was constitutional.

  • 1934

    The Bureau of Indian Affairs rescinds its federal policy of repressing the use of Native American languages. This repression, however, continues illegally into the 1940s and 1950s.

  • 1935-1940

    Pressure to Assimilate
    Bilingual instruction virtually eradicated in the United States. For Northern European immigrants assimilation was easier than other immigrants.

  • National Defense Education Act

    This act provided aid to both public and private schools at all levels to advance the areas of science, math, and modern foreign languages. The act also provided aid to English as a Second Language programs.

  • Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

    This act was passed by President Johnson. The act outlined and provided funds for educational programs that were considered essential for children and public education. Bilingual Education was one such program that received funding.

  • 1967

    ESEA, Title VII The Bilingual Education Act became a federal statute under Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Amendment of 1967. It provided federal funding for the Bilingual Education Act of 1968.

  • Bilingual Education Act

    The act mandated that schools provide Bilingual Education programs. The act was passed during an era of growing immigration and an energized Civil Rights movement. The act provided federal funding to encourage local school districts to try approaches incorporating native-language instruction. This was the first time U.S. Congress had endorsed funding for Bilingual Education.Most states followed the lead of the federal government, decriminalizing the use of other language in the classroom.

  • Castaneda vs. Pickard

    Criteria for ELL programs must be 1. based on "sound educational theory" 2. implemented with adequate resources and, 3. evaluated and proven effective.

  • Amendment to the Bilingual Education Act of 1968

    Terrence Bell, Secretary of Education, saw the guidelines in the Bilingual Education Act as too inflexible.Lawmakers amended the act, offering Title VII programs the option of using English-only instruction.

  • Proposition 187 (California)

    Deny illegal immigrants health care, social services, and public education.In November of 1994, the issue was brought to the voters, where it received 59% of the votes in its favor, and became a law. Its constitutionality was immediately challenged. In March of 1998, U.S. District Court confirmed that the federal government has exclusive authority of immigration policies and thus, the law was unconstitutional. This court ruling effectively killed the law.

  • Proposition 227

    All California students must be taught in English as rapidly as possible. The proposition places non-English speaking students in a short-term English immersion program. Students generally do not spend more than one year in the program, however, one year after the English-only program was implemented. The proposition requires that all public education must be conducted in English and severely restricts the use of their native language for the instruction of English learners.

  • No Child Left Behind Act

    The act requires that all teachers teaching in Bilingual Education programs be fluent in English and any other language used in the classroom. The act gives parents the choice to enroll their children in a Bilingual Education program, but puts a three year “time-limit” on Bilingual programs. After a student has been in school for three consecutive years, English-only instruction must commence, regardless of the student’s English speaking ability.