Bilingual Education in the US

Bilingual Education in the US

ELLs Percentage in Public Schools by State: Fall 2020

HISTORY

2015

Every Student Suceed Act

2002

No Child Left Behind Act

1981

Castañeda v. Picard

ELLs by home language: Fall 2020

(NCES, 2023)

1974

Lau v. NicholsEqual Educational Opportunities Act

1968

Bilingual Education State Policies

Bilingual Education Act

1954

Brown v. the Board of Education

1923

Meyer v. Nebraska

PROGRAMS

SEAL OF BILITERACY

TRANSITIONAL BILINGUAL EDUCATION

BILINGUAL PROGRAMS

DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAMS

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

ENGLISH-ONLY PROGRAMS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Nieto, D. (2009, Spring). A Brief History of Bilingual Education in the United States. Perspectives on Urban Education, p. 91. https://urbanedjournal.gse.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/pdf_archive/PUE-v6i1.pdf#page=61
• Thomas, B. A. (2017). Language policy, language ideology, and visual art education for emergent bilingual students. Arts Education Policy Review, 118(4), 228-239. https://doi.org/10.1080/10632913.2017.1287802
• Gándara, P., & Escamilla, K. (2017). Bilingual Education in the United States. Bilingual and multilingual education, 12(1), 439-452.
• Ovando, C. J. (2003). Bilingual Education in the United States: Historical Development and Current Issues. Bilingual Research Journal, 27(1), 1–24. doi:10.1080/15235882.2003.101625
• Crawford, J. (1989). Bilingual Education: History, Politics, Theory, and Practice. Los Angeles: Bilingual Educational Services, Inc.
• Bybee, E. R., Henderson, K. I., & Hinojosa, R. V. (2014). An overview of US bilingual education: Historical roots, legal battles, and recent trends. Faculty Publications. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/1615
• Rutherford-Quach, S., Torre Gibney, D., Kelly, H., Ballen Riccards, J., Garcia, E., Hsiao, M., Pellerin, E., & Parker, C. (2021). Bilingual education across the United States. CCNetwork. https://compcenternetwork.org/sites/default/files/Bilingual%20education%20across%20the%20United%20States.pdf
• Moore, S. C. (2021). A history of bilingual education in the US: Examining the politics of language policymaking (Vol. 129). Multilingual Matters.
• U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, & U.S. Department of Justice. (2015, January). Dear colleague letter: English learner students and limited English proficient parents (p. 12). http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-el-201501.pdf

Landscape of bilingual education

(Rutherford-Quach et al., 2021)

• Six states (CT, IL, NJ, NY, TX, WI) mandate bilingual education when about 20 same-language students enroll in a district.
• CT and NJ allow exceptions for low-grade band enrollment.
• CT and TX allow waivers for a shortage of bilingual teachers.
• Arizona has its English-only legislation still in effect.
• VT and SC lack clear guidance on their policies.
• Other 41 states and DC offer flexibility when selecting districts/schools language programs.
• All but four states (AL, AR, NH, TN) allowable programs explicitly include bilingual education.