Bilingual Education Essay

Bilingual Education programs not only beneficial to an individual student, but to it’s entire society, preparing students for viable communication in an ever-globalizing world, accelerating students academically, and maturing future generations’ mental and social capabilities. Over 15 percent of the nation’s kindergarten through twelfth grade students are not proficient in the English language and speak a language other than English at home (Greene, 1998). This idea, the use of two languages in schools, by teachers, students, or both, for a variety of purposes educational or socially, is not exactly novel (Greene, 1998). The bilingual education system was first legally introduced in Ohio in 1839. As the first state to adopt the bilingual system, it authorized German-English instructions (Greene, 1998). As time progressed, the Bilingual Education Act was finally passed during 1968. During this era, educators and political leaders were developing programs of compensatory education, providing special help for poor or other students with special needs (Ratte,

The most notable studies were the eight-year (1984-1991) Longitudinal Study of Structured English Immersion Strategy, Early-Exit and Late-Exit Programs for Language-Minority Children. With more than 700,00 student records, they documented that students with no schooling in their native language, and only taught exclusively in English, reached the age and grade-level norms of their English-speaking peers within seven to ten years (Smith, 1994). Students who were taught both their native language and English reached and surpassed their performance of native English-speakers after only four to seven years when tested in English (Smith, 1994). Students enrolled in bilingual education have demonstrated an exceptional increase in their overall learning abilities, scoring normal or at above grade level in all subject