NYTimes.com Article: Improving Bilingual Education

[by way of Jim Wilce]

This was in today's NY Times. I thought

people on the linganth list would be

interested, but I can't send messages

from here (I'm still listed at UMass).

Could you forward it along? Thanks.



Best,



David

David Samuels
davidsam at sas.upenn.edu

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Improving Bilingual Education
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/30/opinion/30MN1.html

October 30, 2000



Bilingual education as practiced in New York City is a historically
troubled program that traps foreign-born students in substandard
schooling instead of teaching them English and passing them into
the mainstream. The city is required by state law and a
longstanding court decree to offer some help to youngsters who do
not speak English as they enter the public schools. But a program
that was intended to be optional is often compulsory in practice
because administrators dragoon children into foreign-language
ghettoes as a way of preserving the bilingual program.

  Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's task force on bilingual education is
right to insist that every parent be given full information and be
allowed to reject enrollment in the program. In addition, the task
force wants the board to expand English exposure for children in
bilingual education. But the most important problem is the chronic
shortage of bilingual teachers, too many of whom are uncertified.
In the absence of skilled teachers, everything else is just
tinkering at the margins.

  Over the last decade and a half, New York City has developed
several programs to teach every academic subject in a range of
foreign languages. The overall bilingual program now enrolls about
176,000 students. Contrary to popular belief, all of these children
receive at least some course instruction in English. Half of the
bilingual students are enrolled in the English-as-a-second-language
program, in which classes are taught in English and the children
are taught English as well in special language classes. For the
other half of the bilingual students, the regular curriculum is
taught mainly in their native languages.

  Many critics of the system are touting a radical program in which
students would receive all instruction in English only. But the
truth is that many children already get instruction that comes
close to "immersion," except that it allows teachers to provide
occasional help in a child's native language.

  The latest push for radical changes emanates from California,
which two years ago passed a referendum requiring that instruction
be overwhelmingly in English. Supporters have declared it a
success, based on tests that show scores rising for all children
across the state. But the scores are attributable to many things,
including smaller class size, a more rigorous curriculum and a
state program that pays schools a bonus for higher scores. Also,
some scholars say a math-score gap between native and non-native
speakers has widened, suggesting that the new system may yet yield
damage.

  New York City's bilingual system has a less than stellar record.
Only 62 percent of children who enter the system in kindergarten
leave the bilingual program within three years, and that number
falls to 11 percent for those who enter in ninth grade. The
youngest children are easier to teach because they learn language
quickly and do not need to master complicated content. The older
children are also burdened by a lack of qualified teachers. By
junior high school, nearly one in three bilingual teachers is
uncertified   about twice the rate for traditional teachers.
Imagine being a foreign-born child struggling to learn English from
a teacher who does not speak it fluently.

  Mayor Giuliani's task force was right to highlight the problems
and insist that the Board of Education take a critical look at the
program. Schools Chancellor Harold Levy must ensure that children
are no longer forced into the system and that those who now receive
a great deal of their instruction in a foreign language are given
greater exposure to English. But New York's bilingual learners will
continue to founder unless the city and state embark on a vigorous
effort to attract, recruit and retain talented new teachers.

    



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