Abstract
Substantial research shows how bilingualism can result in cognitive, social, and academic benefits for the individual and for society. Nevertheless, many state and federal policies continue to reflect the influence of English-only, nationalistic proponents and the inadequate investment in education. This chapter recounts the struggles of bilingual education in the United States and in Texas through policy and litigation over the past fifty-plus years.
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Notes
- 1.
“English learner” describes those students who have yet to be classified under a local, state or federal system as having achieved the level of required proficiency in the English language, respectively. The author recognizes that various terms have been used to describe this group of students, including “Emergent Bilinguals,” “English Language Learners,” “bilingual students,” “language minorities,” “English as a Second Language or ESL students,” and “limited-English proficient students,” among others.
- 2.
For purposes of this chapter, bilingual education includes both maintenance bilingual models, transitional bilingual models, as well as one-way and two-way dual language models. This does not include English as a second language models (ESL) because those do not focus on utilizing the EL student’s non-English native language. However, in the context of funding, bilingual funding refers to funding for bilingual education and/or ESL, unless otherwise stated.
- 3.
In 1979, the US Department of Education became a separate department and HEW was renamed as the Department of Health and Human Services.
- 4.
This remarkable “as a whole” ruling was actually first proposed by counsel for the Calhoun County ISD group, the wealthy districts. During a conference with all parties following the second trial, Judge Dietz shared that given the strength of evidence presented in the case, he was inclined to hold the system was inadequate but only as to the EL and low-income students—where the evidence was strongest. Counsel for Calhoun County objected, stating—in the presence of state attorneys—that the court could not hold the system “partially unconstitutional” and that the whole system needed to be declared unconstitutional… or none of it. (Author notes).
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Hinojosa, D.G. (2019). Bilingual Education Policy in Texas: Promise and Lost Opportunities. In: DeMatthews, D.E., Izquierdo, E. (eds) Dual Language Education: Teaching and Leading in Two Languages. Language Policy, vol 18. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10831-1_2
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