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Study: English-Only Law Is A Disadvantage For Immigrant Students
By Bianca Vazquez Toness (WBUR)
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A new study say students learning English in Boston schools — nearly one-fifth of all Boston students — are at a big disadvantage under the all-English education program.
The report out of UMass Boston says, since English-only education went into effect six years ago, increasing numbers of immigrant students have dropped out or entered special-education programs.
In 2003, Massachusetts voters approved a referendum mandating all-English instruction for immigrant students. Boston residents, however, voted overwhelmingly against it.
Sociologist Miren Uriarte says there’s been little analysis of that law’s impact before the study by the Mauricio Gaston Institute at UMass Boston.
MIREN URIARTE: We did this study at the behest of community groups — immigrant communities — that were concerned about the lack of information that they were receiving from the Boston Public Schools about the situation of their children after the implementation of the changes that came with the referendum Question 2.
Before the referendum, English learners had the lowest dropout rates in the Boston Public Schools. Now they are the among the highest, going from five to 12 percent. Haitian and Vietnamese students’ dropout rates grew the most.
Uriarte says the old way of teaching immigrant students by grouping them by native language and using that language as a bridge for teaching English had it’s advantages.
URIARTE: It built a community around the child. Yes, I think that was important. At least it helped to engage kids. The outcomes were not so great. The academic outcomes were not so great.
The current program, called Sheltered English Immersion, uses simple English instruction to teach math, science and social studies. The teacher may use the native language to answer a question or clarify a point.
Standardized test scores have improved slightly using this model, but not as much as they have for the rest of students. So the achievement gap between English learners and everyone else has widened.
Besides test scores and dropout rates, the study reveals an increase in English learners entering special education, particularly programs where students are kept separate from mainstream students. In 2003, 4.9 percent of English learners were in substantially separate special-education classes. Now it’s almost 11 percent.
Boston Superintendent Carol Johnson says this is a problem.
SUPERINTENDENT CAROL JOHNSON: Teachers see a student struggling. They want to provide help. They’re not sure how to. And so sometimes students are referred to special education and sometimes those students need just extra help in acquiring English.
Johnson hopes that new district programs will give teachers more options. She plans to add more two-way bilingual programs that allow young children to study in Spanish and English simultaneously.
In February, the district began a Newcomers Academy for high-school students arriving to the district without speaking much English. And, the superintendent is overhauling the intake process for new students who don’t speak English.
Johnson hopes these measures will also help the school system comply with state and federal laws.
According to a recent state report, Boston schools are not providing any help learning English to more than 4,000 students. That’s almost half of the English-learner population. By law, if parents waive their right to the district English instruction program, the district has to provide an alternative.
JENNI LOPEZ: English-language learners have a right to a program, to appropriate services, to equal educational opportunity.
Jenni Lopez is a staff attorney with Multicultural Education Training and Advocacy, Inc. The non-profit has won lawsuits against school districts in other states that weren’t providing an adequate education to immigrant students.
LOPEZ: If you’re not offering that program, and the only choice a parent has is, ‘I’m opting out’ – I mean, there’s also a serious question as to what they’re opting out of. Are they opting out of all services for their kid or are they opting out of being bused across the city to another program?
Superintendent Johnson says the district isn’t doing enough to help immigrant parents pick the best schools and programs for their kids. She blames many of these problems on the implementation of the all-English education law.
JOHNSON: The change happened so quickly, without giving school districts probably sufficient time – at the time when it occurred – to really plan more thoughtfully.
Johnson says the district focused too much on teaching English as quickly as possible. Now the district will go back and look at the research to find better ways to teach English learners.
April 7th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Excuse me, but don’t these kids have enough sense of responsibility to show up and LEARN. If a person isn’t responsible enough to show up for school, how are they ever going to hold a job? Why is it everyone elses’ responsibility to make sure some student attends schools, but not the actual student?
THESE ‘KIDS’ ARE VERY CLOSE TO BEING ADULTS AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH. CODDLING THEM LIKE INFANTS ONLY PROLONGS THEIR INABILITY TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEMSELVES!
I really wish the state would stop wasting money on the thugs in Downtown Crossing, or pretty much any other deadbeat hangout spot, and spend that money on the kids whom actually attend school because they want to learn.
April 7th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
The English-only law was a totally political issue, not an educational one, in my opinion. Most educators see the educational advantages of bi-lingual education, and its ability to individualize instruction and motivate non-English speakers. I don’t support the English-only law.
April 7th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
So instead of putting them in classes that are entirely in English, we initially put them only in English-as-a-second-language (ESL) classes that may use their native language in the process of teaching English. They don’t enter school as a whole until they are proficient in English.
BTW, children under 12 can learn a language by total immersion. This is how we acquire our native languages, and it is possible to learn more than one native language. It is how my father became fluent in English.
Finally, unlike the early 20th century, there are hundreds of millions of people outside the US who speak English and would just love to come and live here. Why are we still accepting non-English speaking immigrants to begin with?
April 7th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
English should be the official language in MA; English should be the only language taught in government schools
April 8th, 2009 at 12:33 am
Excuse me but if you move to China, Germany, France, or anywhere else…Where is it that they make everyone else learn your language?? When in Rome….In Fall River, my son was subjected to 8 years of Portuguese. A language he will never use in any other part of THIS country. Yes English courses should be available, however, why do American children have to be penalized for having grown up here. It seems that immigrants have more rights than English speaking children do.
April 8th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
I was a product of ESL back in the late 80’s. During my time ESL was taught mostly in my native language with some English added in. My parents saw that i was not learning English properly and decided along with the principal to have me immersed in an English only classroom. Yes, it was very hard at the beginning but with encourgement from my school and family I thrived. These children coming to this country need to learn English. They hear and read their native language at home and with their friends. School should be a place where they must learn to speak the language of their adoptive country. Schools should encourge these children to learn english and should also find ways to help their families learn English. I was a product of immersion by choice and glad that that choice was made for me. I speak English fluently but also speak 3 other languages fluently!
April 8th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
If the immersion law was so successful why does MA have a growing drop out rate for ELLs. Why are the students being overrefered for special education? It is economically sound to make sure ALL students graduate with at least a high school diploma. We were doing that before Question #2 passed. Now, ELLs have the highest drop out rate at 25%. It is cheaper to pay for a good education than to pay for prisons.
Have you all read the report? It is damming about the current state of affairs.
Read the report before making statements that aren’t based on the realities of the schools today.
http://www.gaston.umb.edu/
April 9th, 2009 at 10:38 am
As an educator prior to the passage of question 2 - I can see the change of the preparedness of my students. I see students not accessing the curriculum, not feeling part of the school or classroom community, seeing themselves as having nothing to offer the school. Students have moved from being proud of knowing two languages, to being deemed as limited, as insufficient, as at risk. It doesn’t surprise me that the drop out rate is so astonomical for bilingual students. The school doesn’t provide them access to the curriculum, the system prevents them from getting a diploma, the teachers think they are bringing down their scores. Unless changes in Question 2 take place, this drop out rate will continue, and society will suffer the consequences.