Women Studies
350OL PACE
Fall 2005 Group Project
"Bilingual Education and the Effect
of Proposition 227"
Introduction
The
What I really want, chulito
is to teach Spanglish 101
But my brutal university
does not recognize
the emotional adversity
and drain
of m o n o l i n g u a l i s m.
As if to oppress the others further, Proposition 227, which
would enforce the use of English only in public school classrooms in
Therefore, in our collective web page, we focused on the issues surrounding
Proposition 227 and Bilingual Education in the state of
References: “Multiplicity” by
“Tired of Playing Monopoly?” by Donna Langston
from Course Reader
Bilingual Education in
What is Bilingual Education?
The definition of Bilingual Education is when students are taught initial
literacy and subjects like math and science in their native tongue as they
progress toward fluency in English although there are other variations such as
the mixture of ESL and a regular class or sheltered English Immersion program
("The near end of bilingual" Education Next, Fall 2003 v3 i4 p44(9)
by Christine H.Rossell). However it was defined, Bilingual Education was
a core system, which supported the students whose native language was
something other than Engilsh for their success in this country. Unfortunately
it was officially ended in the year 1998 with the passage of Proposition 227.
According to "California Immigration Clampdown" (Socialism
Today, Issue 31, 1998), "ON 2 JUNE, 61% of voters in
What is Proposition 227?
According to "The near end of bilingual" by Rossell, the main idea of
Proposition 227 is as follows:
All children in
In particular, this shall require that all children be
placed in English-language classrooms.
Children who are English learners shall be educated through
sheltered English immersion
during a temporary transition period not normally intended
to exceed one year.
Aimee Gonzalez and Sandi Cruz-Regalado sound out words during an English lesson
in their
What did people say about Proposition 227?
Supporters of Proposition 227 argued that
Bilingual Education failed in actual practice, and in most cases, there was no
true bilingual education but monolingual education. Also, they claim some
parents were upset with the school since their children didn't learn English.
Opponents of Proposition 227 argued that the proposition would place limited
English speaking children of all ages and languages in one class room and take
away the parents' rights to select the best education for their children.
(These arguments were taken out of an article titled "California
initiative targets the failure of bilingual education" - Knight
Ridder/Tribune News Service, Feb 19, 1998 p219K2147 and the state website -
http://primary98.ss.ca.gov/VoterGuide/Propositions/227text.htm
http://www.ss.ca.gov/lib/gif/seal_120.gif
Yes/No Map is taken from http://primary98.ss.ca.gov/Returns/prop/mapR227.gif
What was the outcome of Proposition 227?
The following information is directly taken out of http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/06/03/exit.poll/index.html
Prop. 227: Bilingual Education
Nearly half of all primary voters said they believed that "if you live in
What exactly happened after Proposition 227?
Proposition 227 rose even more controversies afterwards. Many districts
appealed to receive the waiver of the proposition. Some school districts
interpreted the proposition in their own way to maintain the exisiting
bilingual program while some parents wanted to bring back the bilingual
education into the school. In other words, Proposition 227 didn't quite
end the bilingual education, and indeed it rather illuminated the necessity of
the bilingual eudcation in the sate of California.
Please to refer to the following website. It offers many links to
newspaper articles illustrating the aftermath of the prop 227.
http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/linguistics/people/grads/macswan/227arc1.htm
Gender issue and
Proposition 227
Gender
is still an affecting factor in education today. Females are still trailing the
males in standardized test scores, like in the STAR and Standard-9. Equity in
education has been given to females for about 33 years now, after the Women’s
Educational Equity Act of 1972. This act prohibited discrimination on basis of
gender. It was through this act that females had rights to an equal education.
Even after 33 years of implementing this act society still has many loop holes
to fill. It has been only recently that females have been portrayed in our
classroom history lessons because of the newly started multi-cultural lessons.
We see that females are still fighting to overcome obstacles of learning.
English speaking females have a difficult time being oppressed in education
imagine now, a female non-English speaking student.
A major debate in Proposition227 is the idea that non-English speakers should
be submerged in a English intense classroom for one year. Ron Unz debates this
view and states that bilingual education should be abolished. If it only took
one year to learn a language everyone would be bilingual. How can we ask our
children to learn one of the most complicated and difficult languages there is,
in one year? So now after trying to learn an extremely difficult language they
have to play catch up to their English speaking peers because their classroom
instruction is now based learning on English. Female LEP students are trying to
catch up while trying to overcome the obstacles of being female, a minority and
now probably considered ‘dumb’ because of low standardized test scores.
Standardized test scores like the STAR can be found on this site, http://star.cde.ca.gov/star2005/viewreport.asp.
This site shows how test scores incline or decline.
This site is one site that shows how females test scores are below that of
their male peers. This site does not give you test results based on ethnicity
and gender. Equity is still not a resolved issue and it will probably take
another 33 years to improve. ‘Equity in education is achieved, in part, by
removing barriers to the linguistic, cultural and educational development of
minority children (Ramsey and Lopez, 1989). These barriers are slowly being
acknowledged and removed by society. We are taking baby steps towards finding
an educational system that will benefit all of society. When these barriers are
removed we will then see a empowerment of all minority females and a great
improvement in education as a whole.
Ramsey and Lopez. http://www.idra.org/newslettersubscribe.htm/Newslttr/1996/Mar/Adela.htm
Who did Proposition 227 affect?
Did Proposition 227 affect the white child in Beverly Hills whose parents were
Caucasian? Probably not, how about the brown child in Salinas, whose
parents are migrant workers? Probably, or how about the yellow child, who
was born here after their parents became naturalized in the United States in
Orange County? Probably not, so who does Proposition 227 impact?
Proposition 227 is “English for the Children” who would not want the children
to get an education in English so they may proceed after the American Dream.
Well Proposition 227 impacted the children of the parents who did not know
enough about the proposition except that it was going to teach “English to the
Children”. Migrant workers, immigrants and any one who’s English
was not good enough to know that this Proposition will severely impact how
California education system will be taught.
One Language Under God: Fernando
Vega, honorary chairman of Ron Unz's English-only initiative, claims
responsibility for introducing bilingual education to Redwood City. http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/04.23.98/bilingual-9816.html
Bilingual Education has been around since the 1800’s when the first immigration
happened, the Germans, the Chinese, and the interaction with the
Indians. Actually, 12 states passed laws so that other languages
than English can be taught in the classroom so children can get a better
education. http://si.unm.edu/biling_tl/bilingual.html#1800%20-%201849
The impact of Proposition 227 varies from county to county and district to
district in California. For instance the numbers in Santa Cruz and Soquel
showed the scores were mixed – some up and some down.
What Ron Unz did with his initiative was misleading for people who did not
understand what the Proposition was proposing. For migrant workers or
immigrants, it appeared as a great proposition due to the fact that these
immigrants and workers wanted better for their children and preceding them to
vote for Proposition 227, why not who would not “English for the Children”, the
voters did not realize that the proposition was to abolish Bilingual education.
An interesting note, the success of English only depends on the
individual. It depends on the schooling that the person received in their
native language to determine whether or not they will succeed in an English
only structure. Studies show that the more schooling or the more
acquisition you have in your native language then learning English will be
easier.
Studies by Rumberger (1995) have been done and it shows that if there is a
controlled environment regardless of socioeconomic class, the drop out rates
are no different than White students (p 605) http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jwcrawford/Krashen3.htm
In 2002, there was an article by Michael Baron for onenation.org, who happens
to be a leading supporter of Proposition 227, that the success of this
proposition was resounding. “From 1998 to 2001, Latino test scores have
shot upward in California. The percentage of Latinos with reading test scores above
the 50th percentile increased from 21 percent in 1998 to 35 percent in 2001.
The percentage of Latinos with math test scores above the 50th percentile
increased from 27 percent in 1998 to 46 percent in 2001. These are cold
figures. But think for a minute of their effects on individual lives.
Opportunities are being opened up for hundreds of thousands of young Americans.
The effects on millions of lives-and on the quality of life in the nation as a
whole-are incalculable. “ (http://www.onenation.org/0202/020802.htm)
The goal for the children is to master English and if all factors were equal,
it may be able to be done, however, since they are not equal, does Proposition
227 really benefit everyone.
Controversy with Proposition 227
There is a great controversy whether Proposition 227 has been beneficial for
non-English speakers or not. There is a myth that states that Proposition 227
has helped to increase the test scores for ELL students. It is true that they
have increased, but how high? The statistics made by the California Department
of Education show the invalidity of the myth. As it is shown on the table
below, the SAT-9 scores averages reveals that the raise is very high at the
lower grade levels, but the change is absolutely low at the higher levels.
However, the improvement at the lower levels is not due to the English-Only
immersion. Jill Kerper from the San Diego University gives the credit to the
“many education reforms [that] have been targeted at K-3, including class size
reduction, summer-school and after-school remedial programs, and professional
development for teachers to improve reading instruction.” On the other hand,
students at higher-grade levels remain in big classes, which make learning more
difficult.
California
SAT-9 Reading Scores Averages 1998-2001
Limited English Proficient (ELL) Students
National Percentile Rankings (NPR)
|
Grade |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
Change |
|
2 |
19 |
23 |
28 |
31 |
12 |
|
3 |
14 |
18 |
21 |
23 |
9 |
|
4 |
15 |
17 |
20 |
21 |
6 |
|
5 |
14 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
4 |
|
6 |
16 |
18 |
19 |
21 |
5 |
|
7 |
12 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
4 |
|
8 |
15 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
4 |
|
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
12 |
2 |
|
10 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
1 |
|
11 |
10 |
11 |
11 |
11 |
1 |
http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/SAT9analysis.htm
The statistics show that there has
been not much improvement gain by proposition 227 at schools. Learning English
is very important. However, bilingual education is very essential for ELL
students to succeed in school. One of the reasons is that students need a
well-constructed knowledge about language and it is easier for them to gain
this knowledge from the language they already speak. After gaining this
knowledge, it would be easy for them to acquire a second language because they
would be able to transfer that well-constructed knowledge to English. Marsha
Fainland explains, "A child will be most successful in learning to read
and write in his or her native language. As the child learns more English, he
or she will easier learn to read English because the complex of reading skills
is already in place." In addition, learning the skills and concepts of
other subjects, such as math and science in their native language, it is very
helpful for the students. They would be more likely to succeed in those subject
areas; for example, if an ELL student learns about the water cycle in his
native language, he would be able to use that knowledge and applied in English.
Proposition 227 is not having any
positive gain. On the contrary, it is affecting many students who are losing
the richness of their native languages. Kinds are just learning the basic
conversational proficiency of their mother tongue, and not the academic level
they should. David and Yvonne S. Freeman, on their book Essential Linguistics,
state, “children in structured English immersion seldom develop either their
first language or English to the levels needed for academic success” (45). This
is very sad because many students are having this problem, which affects them
as well as their family. Some students are not only having difficulty in
school, but they are also having communication problems with their families for
not being able to communicate well in the language that they both speak. In
addition, lack of communication could damage families and their cultures. Even
though families share a house, they could be disintegrated. Aimee Carrillo
states, “…they both [her mother and a woman on her dream] turn away from the
[Spanish] language that would mark them. I feel the same frustration with both
of them for resisting these remarks, for rejecting the overtures I think should
unite us” (3). Speaking well one’s native language is very important to
keep families united and to keep connected with people from the same race. In
addition, people’s cultures are also being left behind. They are not being
passed to the new generation. Instead, they are adopting a new culture, the
“American.” By the way, what race is the most affected? Statistics show that
the Latinos population is the greatest in public schools; therefore, they are
the most affected race. Look at the following statistics declared by Jill
Kerper Mora:
Linguistic diversity among California's public school students
• 41% Native speakers of a language other
than English (currently or formerly classified as ELL)
• 57 Languages identified by the California
Department of Education
• 25% Classified as limited English
proficient (English learners)
• 84% of English learners are native
Spanish speakers
• 49% of Latino students are classified as
limited English proficient
• 32% of total school population are
native Spanish speakers or Spanish/English bilingual
• 3% of total school population enrolled
in bilingual education with primary language instruction
http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/CAChallenges/
Learning English is very essential
to live in the United States, but primary languages are also important and
valuable to keep.
Works Cited for This Section
Carrillo
Rowe, Aimee. 2004. 25 Nov. 2005
<http://www.csun.edu/faculty/sheena.malhotra/My_Spine-Power_Lines.htm>
Fainland, Marsha. What Is Wrong With Proposition 227. 1998. 2 Dec. 2005
<http://www.smartvoter.org/1998jun/ca/state/vote/feinland_m/paper1.html>.
Freeman, David E., and Yvonne S. Freeman. Essential Linguistics. Ed. Lois
Bridges. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2004
Kerper Mora, Jill. California’s Challenges in Language Minority Education.
2004. 1 Dec. 2005
<http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/CAChallenges/>
Kerper Mora, Jill. What Do the SAT-9 Scores for Language Minority Students
Really Mean? 2004. 1 Dec. 2005
<http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/SAT9analysis.htm>.
Conclusion
Lastly, we tried to focus on the issues that surrounded Proposition 227 in
California, which included the definition of Bilingual Education, what
Proposition 227 was, the gender aspect of the passing of Proposition 227, who
was affected and the controversy surrounding Proposition 227.
“Most immigrants understand that becoming proficient in English is a way of
finding a better way of living in this country. However, the English-only
movement is primarily a negative campaign”, (Yamada, pg 353). If we could
Imagine if all the billions that companies pay their executives
were used to improve education (Wong, pg 502)
Yes
just imagine, if the children of migrant workers were able to attend school
full time instead of helping in the fields or were given the support of
learning as first language English learners were given. Was Proposition
227 the most beneficial measure to pass for bilingual education? As
stated in our controversy section, cultures are being forgotten and changes are
very minimal.
Thank you for taking the time to explore our webpage about Proposition
227. We will recap what our web page introduced in the following
section.
References: Yamada,
Mitsue - The Cult of the "Perfect" Language:
Censorship by Class, Gender, and Race from
Sing, Whisper, Shout, Pray
Wong, Nellie - Imagine from Sing, Whisper, Shout, Pray
Points of Our Discussion
Thanks for visiting!!