Major Legislation and Policy Events Regarding the Education of Emergent Bilinguals in the U.S.
By o_r39
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Brown v. Board of Education
Segregated schools were unconstitutional (Garcia & Kleifgen, 2018). -
Civil Rights Act
Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin (Garcia & Kleifgen, 2018). -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
ESEA is the largest and most influential federal education policy to date. It contained Title VII known as the Bilingual Education Act, that established a federal goal of assisting "limited-English-speaking" students in the acquisition of English. In addition, it put aside money for school district enrolling large numbers of language-minoritized students that chose to start bilingual education programs or create bilingual instruction materials (Garcia & Kleifgen, 2018). -
Lau v. Nichols
YouTube. (2016, December 7). Lau vs. Nichols: A Landmark Case for ELL Education [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYH_Cj9aRUM -
Re-authorization of the Bilingual Education Act
Eligibility for educational services was expanded to include students of any socioeconomic status who had limited English-speaking ability. In addition, it defined bilingual education for the first time as "instruction give in, and study of, English and (to the extent necessary to allow a child to progress effectively through the education system) the native language of the children of limited English speaking ability" (quoted in Garcia,2009a, p. 169; emphasis added) (Garcia & Kleifgen, 2018). -
Equal Educational Opportunities Act
Requires states to ensure that education agencies take "appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by its students in its instructional programs" (20 USC Sec.1703(f)) (Garcia & Kleifgen, 2018) -
1978 re-authorization of the Bilingual Education Act
It expanded eligibility for services even further, from students with LESA to students with more general limited English proficiency (LEP), while reinforcing the "transitional" nature of bilingual education (Garcia & Kleifgen, 2018). -
Castañeda v. Pickard
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the Lau precedent that schools must take "appropriate action" to educate language-minoritized students and that such action must be based on sound educational theory; produce results; and provide adequate resources, including qualified teachers and appropriate materials, equipment, and facilities (Garcia & Kleifner, 2018) -
1984 reauthorization of the Bilingual Education Act
It provided funding for programs that used only English in educating English language learners, although only 4% of the funding was reserved for these kinds of programs (Garcia & Kleifgen, 2018). -
1988 reauthorization of the Bilingual Education Act
It further expanded the funding for programs in which only English was used to 25% of programs funded. Additionally, it imposed a 3-year limit in transitional bilingual education programs, meaning that schools had 3 years to move English language learners to fluency in English. -
Re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
It increased attention to two-way bilingual education programs, however, the cap for English-only programs that was previously legislated was lifted (Garcia & Kleifgen, 2018). -
Proposition 203
Banned bilingual education in the state of Arizona. It limits school services fro emergent bilinguals to a 1-year English-only structured immersion programs that includes ESL and content-based interaction exclusively in English. Waivers are almost impossible to obtain (Garcia & Klefner, 2018). -
HS2064
Law passed in Arizona that reshaped the structured immersion programs into a 4-hour-a-day block of interaction on English language development (Johnson & Johnson, 2015)(Garcia & Kleifgen, 2018).
