Action Issues
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New
York City Board of Education Study Shows Bilingual Ed. Slows Academic Achievement Based on "ELL (English Language Learner) Subcommittee Research Studies Progress Report" by the New York City Board of Education. Background New York City (NYC) schools use both "English as a Second Language" (ESL), and "bilingual education," programs to education "English Language Learners" (ELLs). ESL is a modified English immersion program, wherein the student takes special courses to help them advance in English skills while they take a rather traditional curriculum in English. Bilingual education programs allow the students to take their courses in the language spoken in their homes, while learning English in a special class. Typically, bilingual education students spend as little as 120 minutes per week in English classes. NYC aims to have students spend no more than three years in ELL programs. New York City tracked the academic progress of a 1991 cohort of ELL students. The final report was published in August 2000. In 1999, ELLs were required to take the state "Regents'" exams for the first time. The Regents' exams are achievement tests offered as a student completes a given course of study. Originally offered to select candidates for New York State (NYS) scholarships to state colleges, NYS had recently required successful completion of Regents' exams for graduation. ESL Students Were Mainstreamed Faster Of those students who were in the first grade when NYC started this longitudinal study in 1991, 80% had exited into mainstream classes within the first three years. (NYC aims to have students spend no more than three years in ELL programs.) Only 62% of bilingual education students had left, as had only 33% of students receiving a mixture of the two programs. By 1999, 2.4% of the 1991 ESL first-grade cohort was still in ELL programs, while 12% of bilingual education students were, and 39% of mixed-program students were. More than a third of these remaining students were special education students. For third graders, the differences between programs were even more dramatic. 16% of ESL students tested out of the program in their first year, 43% tested out within two years, and 70% tested out within three years. By contrast, only 2.2% of bilingual students tested out the first year; 16% tested out within two years, and 44% tested out within three years. In other words, whereas only 30% of ESL students had not tested out by the end of their third year, 56% of bilingual education students had not. Hispanics More Likely to be Placed in Bilingual Ed.; Factor Does Not Explain Performance Gap. Students in the 1991 1st-grade cohort were much more likely to be placed in bilingual education programs if they were Spanish. Just 14% of Spanish ELLs were placed in ESL programs, compared with 68% of all other ELLs. Census figures show that 80% of the population in America that understands no English is Spanish, whereas Spanish make up only slightly more than 50% of those people who speak foreign languages; those students who are least exposed to English outside the classroom are also least likely to be exposed to English inside the classroom. This uneven placement of students is likely due simply to the fact that bilingual educators are much more likely to be Spanish. Students who speak Chinese and Haitian are assigned to bilingual education far more often than children who speak Russian, Korean, and other less commonly spoken languages; Chinese and Haitian are the other two most commonly spoken languages after Spanish. While Chinese, Russian and Korean children are more likely to take ESL classes than Spanish, demographics do not explain the differing success rates of ESL and bilingual education. Although slightly less pronounced, the performance gaps still persist even among only Spanish ELLs. ESL Students Perform Far Better than Bilingual Students on Reading, Math Exams. ESL students outperformed bilingual education students on reading scores consistently, whether the students started the tracking in kindergarten (54.4% of ESL students reached the median, vs. 39.7% of bilingual education students), first grade (55.5%-47.2%), and second grade (61.6%-40.0%). Math test results showed similar superiority in each grade measured, kindergarten (70.1%-51.2%), first grade (66.4%-51.8%) or second grade (80.1%-50.0%). This study is so valuable, because it is one of very few which continued to track the academic progress of ELLs after they left their ESL or bilingual education program. Of ESL students who were in kindergarten when the tracking started in 1991, 61% of ESL students were mainstreamed within two years; only 46% of bilingual education students were. Yet, ESL students in this group outscored their bilingual education counterparts on both reading tests (70% of ESL students scored above the median, vs. 54% of bilingual students) and math tests (83%-69%). In the first-grade cohorts, the mainstreaming rates were even more different for ESL v. bilingual-education students. 70% of ESL students were mainstreamed within the first two years, vs. only 49% of their bilingual-education counterparts Even still, ESL students scored better than bilingual education on both reading (69%-66%) and math (67%-75%). Notably, ESL's superiority was even greater in math scores. Bilingual education advocates allege that ESL teaches English at the expense of other subjects. Also consider that these students were mainstreamed due to their superior English skills, not their skills in general. Mainstreamed Students Are Less Likely to Drop Out. Among ELL sixth graders who were tracked starting in 1991 and who reached the ELL exit criterion, 77% graduated, 13% were still enrolled more than a year after their class graduation date, and 10% had dropped out. Among those who did not reach the criterion, only 24% gradated, while 30% were still enrolled and 46% had dropped out. This underscores the value gained by ESL programs; they have far fewer students who failed to reach the exit criterion than do bilingual education programs. Conclusion Students in ESL programs are far more likely than students in bilingual education to successfully achieve the English skills needed to be placed into mainstream classes, and they achieve these skills much faster. They achieve higher test scores in reading and math, refuting the argument that improved reading skills come at the expense of other academic skills. Students who successfully reach the exit criterion are far more likely to finish school. Resources: How ProEnglish is fighting to end bilingual education The current status of bilingual education in America English for the Children ballot initiative , with official arguments for and against California's Proposition 227. Papers on the effectiveness of bilingual education Test results show benefits of Proposition 227, which banned bilingual education Report to the Arizona legislature concerning bilingual and "English as a Second Language" programs Comparison of Bilingual and ESL students in New York City Hispanic dropout rates remain steady while others' drop Critique on bilingual education by Peter Duignan of Stanford University's Hoover Institute |
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