Review the historical perspectives（bilingual ed legal chart） and highlight ONE influential case in the U.S. legal system and its implications, and evaluate the California Williams Decision. APA format , u can read the sample essay attached
Michelle_Michy
Historical_Perspectives.pptHistorical Perspective of Bilingual Education
Colonial Era
- The first Bilingual Education schools prior to 1800 were chiefly parochial institutions.
- German, French and Scandinavian immigrants opened bilingual schools.
- Many of these schools were not bilingual, they were non-English speaking schools where English was taught as a subject.
1855 California Bureau of Instruction mandated that all schools teach only English.
- With new wave of immigrants arriving in the United States, the issue of language instruction was pushed to the front burner.
1917 The United States entered into WWI and anti-German sentiment prompted many schools to end German-English instruction.
1923 Meyer vs. State of Nebraska: Based on Nebraska act passed in 1919, this court case reaffirmed the Nebraska policy that no person should teach any subject to any person in any language besides English.
No foreign language may be taught (except for dead languages) to any student before he has passed the 8th grade.
English should be the mother tongue of all children reared in Nebraska.
- Brown vs Board of Education: In December of 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court had on its docket cases from Kansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, South Carolina, and Virginia, all of which challenged the constitutionality of racial segregation in public schools. The Court consolidated these five cases under one name, Oliver Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
Led by Thurgood Marshall, it dismantled the legal basis for racial segregation in schools and other public facilities.
By declaring that racial segregation violates the 14th amendment to the constitution, the ground was laid for shaping future national and international policies regarding human rights.
1964 Civil Rights Act
- Landmark legislation that outlawed segregation in the US schools and other public places
- First conceived to help African Americans, the bill was amended to protect women in courts, and explicitly included white people for the first time.
- It also started the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
- It prohibits discrimination in public facilities, in government, and invalidates Jim Crow laws in the South.
Lau v. Nichols
- 1974 Major precedent regarding the educational rights of language minority students
Issue: Do schools provide equal educational opportunity by treating all students the same, or must they offer special help to students unable to understand English.
Lau v. Nichols
continued
This was a class suit brought by non-English-speaking Chinese students in the San Francisco Unified School District. Probably the most famous case related to bilingual education. The courts said that there is not equal education being provided if students did not speak the language that it was being delivered in. The schools needed to provide equal access to the curriculum to students who do not speak English.
This brought about the so called “Lau Remedies”
Lau Remedies
- More than 20 students with the same L1 (primary language) means that a program needs to be established.
- Requirements for identification were established
- Curriculum requirements were established.
- Training guidelines recommended for staff were established.
- Parents to be notified in L1 about school events.
- A school plan for addressing the needs of L1 students needed to be reviewed peeriodically.
Other Court Cases
- Aspira vs. New York—Decides who shall receive services (addressed Puerto Rican immigrants).
- Keys vs Denver—Specified that L1 be required.
- 1976—14 states mandated Bilingual Education.
AB 507
Bilingual Improvement Act
This act gave the goal of developing fluency in L2 (second language), as effectively and efficiently as possible to bilingual programs. It listed programs that are available and variations of those programs. It listed teacher qualification requirements.
It required bilingual classes at schools where there were more that 10 students in the same grade that spoke the same L1.
1987 this program was allowed to sunset, which meant that bilingual programs in California were no longer required.
Prop 227
- Known as the Unz Initiative
- Eliminates bilingual classes as we know them. (caused some school districts to change ESL, English as a second language, to ELL, English language learners).
- Mandates that all ELL’s be provided with a Sheltered English Immersion Program.
- Gives ELL’s one year to learn English through Sheltered English Immersion before moving them into mainstream classes.
- After 30 days parents can request native language instruction if they get a waiver.
- Districts scramble to make changes.
No Child Left Behind
- Controversial United States federal law that reauthorized a number of federal programs aiming to improve the performances of U.S. primary and secondary schools by increasing the standards of accountability for states, school districts, and schools, as well as providing parents more flexibility in choosing which schools their children will attend.
- The NCLB act requires that in order for states to receive federal funding, all teachers must be “highly qualified” as defined by the law by the end of the 2006-2007 school year.
Williams Decision
- The Williams decision essentially maintained that equal educational facilities are necessary for educational equity.
- The condition of school facilities has an important impact on student performance.
- Comfortable classroom temperature
- Noise level
- Research has shown that students attending schools in better conditions outperform students attending schools in substandard building.
- School building influence teacher effectiveness.
- School overcrowding makes it harder for students to learn.
Assignment
- Choose one of the previous topics (ie Brown v Board of Education, Williams Decision, Civil Rights Act, etc) to write a reflection.
- Use the internet to research more detail about your chosen topic and then write a response per my directives to its implications for the California public school, or your own school.
- This will be added to your Portfolio.
