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First Bilingual and Bicultural Public School in the United States
Coral Way Elementary School starts the first bilingual and bicultural public school in the U.S. This to me this was one of the beginnings of addressing the problems in bilingual and bicultural communities. It impacted multicultural education by allowing educators to teach children in their own language, thereby helping them to succeed in school. -
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESFA)
This act was passed as part of President Johnson's "War on Poverty," which provided federal funding to help low-income students, who are in danger of not passing state academic standards tests. This act helped introduced such programs as Title 1 and bilingual education. It has impacted education in that it levels the playing field between richer schools and poorer schools that have low-income families or a diverse population of students. -
The Bilingual Education Act
The Bilingual Education Act, also known as Title Vll becomes a law but is repealed in 2002 and replaced by the No Child Left Behind Act. It was the first piece of federal legislation to recognize the needs of Limited English Speaking Ability Students. (LESA) It impacted mulitcultural education by recognizing that LESA students have special needs and to make things equal in educational opportunities the government should pay for these programs. -
Diana v. California State Board
As a result of the case Diana v. The California State Board new laws were instituted requiring children who are referred for special education placement need to be tested in their primary language. The laws put place as a result of this case helped multicultural education because it also leveled the playing field by testing in the child's first language and made it easier to find special needs in students. -
The Indian Education Act
The Indian Education Act became a law and established a better approach to meeting the special needs of the the American Indian and Alaska Native students. This impacted multi-cultural education because it levels the playing field for these two groups of students to be able to compete with more affluent school districts. -
The Refugee Act of 1980
The Refugee Act of 1980 reforms immigration laws to admit three-million refugees into the U.S. for humanitarian reasons. The refugee act has impacted multicultural education in that it brought many diverse students to the U.S. and with them their special needs for learning. -
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
This act replaced the Bilingual Education Act of 1968. It mandates high-stakes student testing, and holds schools accountable for student successes in academics. It also gives penalties for schools that do not make significant progress toward the NCLB goals. This act sought to make American education more internationally competitive. It made sure that schools paid attention to ELL's special education students and poor and minority students. -
The School District of Philadelphia announces that it will lay off 676 teachers.
In mid 2013 Philadelphia laid off 676 teachers in addition to many administrators and guidance counselors. This is a devastating blow to multicultural education because it is my belief that teachers who specialize in ELL were among the first to go. This would involve more overcrowded classrooms and stressed teachers who remained. Not a good environment that is conducive to learning. -
Program for International Student Assessment
Results from the Program for International Student Assessment shows that U.S. teenagers still continue to lag behind other developed countries, especially Asia. If mainstream America is lagging behind other developed countries imagine where our ELL's, Native America and Alaskan students are in terms of academic success. -
California Proposition 58 implements California Multilingual Education Act
The California Multilingual Education Act says that schools no longer have to teach ELL's in English. If there are enough students who parents sign a release then the school has to create a bilingual program. I think this act is significant to multicultural education because to me it is easier to learn a language when your teacher can understand your first language and can help you along in your learning of the new language.
