Bilingual education policy implementation in Pennsylvania school districts

Bilingual Education
Introduction
Across the US and in several countries around the world, many young learners are attending schools where the language of instruction is not one in which they are proficient. The lack of proficiency in the instructional language makes learners less likely to achieve good educational outcomes. Chin (2015), in his study, found that this issue is growing because of the increase in international migration. Therefore, multiple education programs have been proposed to help young students with linguistic barriers to achieve better outcomes. Studies looking at the effectiveness of such programs can help policymakers, educators, and parents to improve the outcomes of children who are not native English speakers. In the United States, many students have limited English proficiency. To help such students, several bilingual education programs have been introduced and implemented in the country, according to Chin (2015). This paper investigates the implications of bilingual education at school district-level in Pennsylvania and discusses how a school district should implement the state’s policy on bilingual education. Bilingual Education in the United States The United States educational landscape has always had bilingual education. Bilingual education in the country started long before the United States was formed as a union of settler colonies. According to Goldenberg and Wagner (2015), bilingual education started in the seventeenth century when settlers from Poland settled in a region dominated by settlers from England in Virginia. The Poles were renowned for their shipbuilding and glassmaking skills. To ensure they could teach their children their skills and become a key part of the Virginia colony, the colony allowed them to start bilingual schools (Goldenberg and Wagner, 2015). These bilingual schools are believed to be the first-ever in North America.
Immigration into the settler colonies did not stop with the Poles. Many Europeans from different parts of the continent sailed in hundreds of boats to start a new life in the United States. Nieto (2009) assert that this European immigration is why the United States is known as the nation of the immigrants. Over the years, individuals have continued to immigrate to the United States for various reasons. As of now, many Americans are themselves or have parents, grandparents, great grandparents, or relatives who are immigrants (Nieto, 2009). Immigration continues to date, especially from countries where the majority are not native English speakers. This is the reason why bilingual education programs are important and need to continue. Bilingual Education in Pennsylvania There have been bilingual schools almost everywhere in the United States. (Goldenberg and Wagner (2015) give examples and details of these schools. They write that there have been Spanish bilingual education centers in Florida and the Southwest; French bilingual education centers in Ohio, Louisiana, and the Northeast; Polish and Italian bilingual education centers in Wisconsin and New York; Czech bilingual education centers in Texas and Nebraska; Dutch bilingual education centers in Michigan; Scandinavian bilingual schools in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois; and German bilingual education centers in Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Ohio. In the year 1900, more than one million of the sixteen million elementary school children across the United States were being instructed in English and one other language. In terms of percentage, this is six percent, and it is greater than three percent, which is the current percentage of students receiving bilingual education today in elementary schools. The schools that gave elementary school children bilingual education in the year 1900 are an important part of the United States bilingual tradition (Goldenberg & Wagner, 2015). It is these schools that were the pioneers of the bilingual education programs that later emerged in states across the United States and were later supported through formal federal funding via the Bilingual Education Act.
Arguably, the number one factor that led to the spread of bilingual education across the country was the American civil rights movement. The movement called for equality in all sectors of life. Olusola, Lavin, Thompson, and Ungerleider (2010) assert that the Hispanics, particularly academics and educators, called for the government not to neglect Hispanic children in education. They made calls for the proper education of Hispanic children a priority during the civil rights marches. And they asked for Hispanic children to be educated in Spanish, which is part of their culture (Olusola, Lavin, Thompson and Ungerleider, 2010). The campaigns by Hispanic activists and educators during the civil rights marches of the sixties are among the reasons why the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 was proposed, debated, passed, and signed into law.
However, while the law is truly a precedent-setting, it was also a continuation of the legacy of Polish settlers and other European settlers in the sixteenth century who saw it wise to introduce bilingual education. It was more of an extension of the old tradition of promoting bilingual education to improve education outcomes and encourage better integration. Olusola, Lavin, Thompson, and Ungerleider (2010) assert that the law was the first federal level measure to champion bilingualism, and it applies to all states, including Pennsylvania. However, it must be noted that the Bilingual Education Act, contrary to its name, did not ask for bilingual education. It simply provided the funding to help students to get instructions in languages other than English (Olusola, Lavin, Thompson & Ungerleider, 2010). It was simply a law to provide federal funding formally and not to force schools to create bilingual education programs.
Many states have long supported bilingual education. Several states, including Pennsylvania, have approved the utilization of the “Seal of Biliteracy” to appear on high school diplomas for those learners who have attained proficiency in English and another language. Goldenberg & Wagner (2015) give examples of Montana and Hawaii States, both of which have second language immersion programs together with the “Seal of Biliteracy.” Montana has a Native American language immersion initiative, while Hawaii has a Hawaiian Language immersion initiative (Goldenberg & Wagner, 2015). Both of these states and many others, too, are promoting bilingual education are doing so to improve education outcomes for the minority language speakers and to promote their culture.
Bilingualism has economic benefits. The benefits vary in terms of languages spoken, industry, location, and age. Goldenberg and Wagner’s (2015) research shows that those who are fluent in two or more languages have the edge over those who are competent in only one language when it comes to obtaining low-skill level jobs but not in high-skill levels. For example, the researchers found that proficient bilinguals generally find it easier to get low-skill level jobs such as receptionist, medical assistant, and police jobs than proficient monolinguals (Goldenberg & Wagner, 2015). Implementation of State’s Perspective at District Level The district of Pennsylvania has plans to provide bilingual education programs in public elementary schools. Rosati (2017) found that the district had implemented bilingual education programs from preschool to third grade (Rosati, 2017). It is noteworthy that bilingual education programs have long existed in the district before the implementation of this new plan. Bavaria (2017) asserts that the modern foundation for the programs was laid by the 1968 Bilingual Education Act (BEA) (Bavaria, 2017).
BEA was the first federal legislation in the United States to take into account the needs of young students with low English speaking ability. One research report asserts that the BEA was introduced as a bill by Ralph Yarborough, who was a Texas Senator, and it was signed into an Act on the 2nd of January by President Johnson. It was the very first federal act assented to in 1968. The Senate passed it as an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (K12academics, 2020). It is crucial to note that before the signing of BEA, many states, including Texas and California, already had policies meant to assist students who had low English speaking ability. Nonetheless, this does not alter the reality that this law was the first federal act to support bilingual education. The law was passed during the campaigns by civil rights activists to make minorities equal to everyone else. K12 Academics (2020) assert that the purpose of BEA was to give school districts federal funding in terms of competitive grants so that they can come up with educational programs to help learners with low English proficiency. While BEA helped to establish bilingual education programs that helped students from various language minorities, the act was particularly passed in support of the campaigns by Hispanic educators and activists (K12academics, 2020). Through funding provided under BEA, many special bilingual education programs were created to help students with low English speaking proficiency.
In the eighties, when conservatives dominated politics, the debate around bilingual education changed towards adopting transitional models to help language minority students to learn English quickly. This led to the shutdown or limitation of many bilingual education programs. Bavaria (2017) reveals that in Philadelphia, for instance, the 1980s resulted in the District cutting special bilingual education programs. For example, 50 percent of bilingual teachers were sacked under the guise of reducing the District’s educational budget deficit.