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SELECTED STUDIES COMPARING EFFECTIVENESS OF
ENGLISH IMMERSION VS. BILINGUAL PROGRAMS FOR ENGLISH LEARNER STUDENTS
Rosalie Pedalino Porter, Ed.D
October 2009
2009 – U.S. Supreme Court ruling, June 25, 2009, in Flores et al. v. Arizona, reaffirmed “the rights of
Spanish-speaking students…to learn English in order to live their lives in a country where English
is the predominant language,” and cited “documented academic support for the view that
structured English Immersion is significantly more effective than bilingual education.”
2009 Rossell, C. Does Bilingual Education Work? The Case of Texas. Bilingual Education in Texas has a negative effect on English-language learner achievement. Numerous research studies indicate that sheltered English immersion programs are much more effective at teaching students English. Texas Public Policy Foundation, Austin, Texas. www.TexasPolicy.com.
2008 – Jacobs, J. The Education of J*A*I*M*E C*A*P*E*L*L*A*N: English Learner Success in California Schools. Some of the highest-performing students in California public schools are Children who knew little English when they starter kindergarten but achieved English proficiency in elementary school. Lexington Institute. Arlington, VA.
2008 – Prosise, R., English Language Learners in Illinois—What Worked and What Didn’t. Diamond
Lake, Illinois, School District 76, publishes a study documenting improvement in academic
performance of ELL students after dropping bilingual instruction in favor of English Immersion.
Lexington Institute, Arlington, VA.
2006 - Torrance, K., Immersion Not Submersion: Lessons from Three California Districts’ Switch
From Bilingual Education to Structured Immersion, Vol. II. From 2001 to 2005 English Language Learner students dramatically improved their performance on the California English Language Development Test. In 2001 only 25% scored in the two top categories (early advanced or advanced); in 2005 47% scored at that level. Lexington Institute, Arlington, VA.
2006 – Arizona Department of Education study of Nogales Unified School District reporting 60-78% of
students identified as English Learners two years earlier had passed all three state tests of basic skills (AIMS). T. Horne, Superintendent of Public Instruction.
2004 – Arizona Department of Education study of 70,000 English Learners finds students in English Immersion programs outscoring students in bilingual programs in every subject at all grade levels, 2002-2003 school year. T. Horne, Superintendent of Public Instruction.
2002 – J. Guzman, Georgetown University, Bilingual Education: Positive/Negative Effects: The best
performance is found among students from Spanish-speaking households who make a rapid transition to English, either through ESL programs or English immersion….any positive returns owing to bilingual instruction are outweighed by the associated costs of delaying transition to English….Students taught using bilingual education obtain .6 years less schooling and are also less likely to obtain a college degree. Education Next, Fall 2002, 63.
1998 – Educating Language Minority Children. Conclusions on 29 years of research: (1) No evidence for
long-term advantages or disadvantages to initial literacy instruction in the primary language versus
English, (2) Teaching children to read and write in English without first developing literacy in
their native language does not have negative effects. National Research Council Institute of
Medicine, Washington, DC. (READ Perspectives, Vol. IV, 2.)
1996 – Rossell, C. and Baker, K., analysis of 76 reliable research studies concludes there is no evidence
for superiority of bilingual programs either for teaching English or school subjects. Bilingual
Education in Massachusetts: The Emperor Has No Clothes (Boston, MA: Pioneer Institute).
1994 - MassachusettsState Study: Results of 23 years of bilingual education—lack of accountability, no
evidence that TBE programs produce good or poor results, no data evaluating performance of limited-English students compared with other groups of students. Massachusetts Bilingual Education Commission. Striving forSuccess: The Education of Bilingual Pupils. (Boston, MA: Executive Office of Education).
1995 – Educational Progress of Students in Bilingual and ESL Programs: A Longitudinal Study, 1990-
1994. New York City Board of Education. LEP students in English as a Second Language classes
exited their special program faster and did better in mainstream classrooms than students taught in
their native language in TBE classes. (READ Perspectives, Vol. II-2)
1992 - El Paso Bilingual Immersion Project: LEP children in English immersion classes consistently out-
performed children in TBE classes in learning English and in learning school subjects over the 10-year study. Gersten, R., Woodward, J. Bilingual Immersion: A Longitudinal Study. Washington, DC: The Institute for Research in English Acquisition and Development, www.ceousa.org ).
1992 - CaliforniaState Study: Results of 20 years of bilingual education: generally poor quality of
bilingual programs; no evidence that native language instruction is beneficial; lack of
accountability; students are kept in bilingual programs too many years. Berman, P. et al. Meeting
the Challenge of Language Diversity: An Evaluation of Programs for Pupils of Limited
Proficiency in English,(Berkeley, CA: BW Associates)38.
1987 - Dade County, Florida, Bilingual Curriculum Project - Limited-English students learned as much
subject matter if they were taught in English or if they were taught in Spanish—no advantage for native language instruction. Rothfarb, S., Ariza, M., and Urrutia, R. Evaluation of the Bilingual Curriculum Project: Final Report of a Three-Year Study, (Dade County Public Schools), ii.
1981 - Baker-DeKanter report: The case for the effectiveness of Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE)
is so weak that exclusive reliance on this instructional method is clearly not justified. Baker, K.
and de Kanter, A., Effectiveness of Bilingual Education: A Review of the Literature, Technical
Analysis Report Series, (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education), 8.
1978 - American Institute for Research report conclusion: Limited-English Proficient (LEP) students in
bilingual programs have less success in learning English than students receiving no special help at
all; LEP students learn math equally well if they are taught in Spanish and English or only in
English.
For additional information on effective schooling for English Language Learners in U.S. public schools: www.ceousa.org |
