A B R I E F H I S TO RY O F E S L A N D B I L I N G U A L

E D U C AT I O N

Bilingual education in the United States dates back farther than you might
imagine as far back as the first settlements in North America in 1664. In
addition to many Native-American languages, at least eighteen languages were
spoken in the U.S. in the 17th century. During the 18th and 19th centuries, groups
with various cultural and linguistic backgrounds continued to settle across the
country, and starting in 1839 some states began to adopt bilingual education laws
that authorized instruction in languages other than English.

However, during the first few decades of this century, immigrants especially
those in large urban areas were taught to assimilate and encouraged to replace
their own cultural heritage with a more American one (a trend commonly
attributed to the changing political winds of WWI). Although some communities
taught students in their native languages, non-English speakers were often
submerged in the English-only classroom with no second language instruction.
By the mid-1920s, most bilingual schools throughout the country were
dismantled, and English-only instruction continued until the 1960s, when the
government stepped in again to sanction bilingual programs.

1963Largely as a result of the rise in the number of Cuban immigrants during

the 1960s, the first large-scale government-sanctioned bilingual program
was initiated in Dade County, Florida, and soon became an unofficial
model for the nation. Educators from all over the country came to examine
the curriculum in an effort to investigate the use of bilingual schooling for
English Language Learners (ELL).

1966TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), a

professional organization, was established in response to the increased
demand for ESL materials and methodologies due to the influx of
immigrants, refugees, and international students to the United States.

1968Congress passed the Bilingual Education Act under Title VII of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This represented the first
national acknowledgment of the special educational needs of non/limited-
English speaking children. Under Title VIIs poverty criterion for
eligibility, however, bilingual education was seen as a strategy for
repudiating the effects of poverty and cultural disadvantage.

1974A suit by the Puerto Rican Legal and Educational Fund resulted in a
Federal court order that required the New York City chancellor of
education to develop adequate bilingual programs that included intensive
English instruction and some content instruction in Spanish.
1974In the pivotal Lau vs. Nichols case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Lau
and 1,789 other Chinese students in San Francisco were being denied
access to equal educational opportunities because they could not
sufficiently understand the language of instruction. The Lau case set the
expectation that school systems must adopt some kind of comprehensive
strategy that addressed the needs of non-English speaking students, though
the Court refused to mandate any particular model.

1984The majority of programs funded by the Elementary and Secondary

Education Act (ESEA) were re-organized into two divisions. Title I
provides money for disadvantaged students, as well as migrant education
programs. Title II provides block grants to the states under such laws as
Ethnic Heritage Act and the Emergency School Aid Act. Funding for
Limited English Proficient (LEP) students (another term for ELL),
comes from all of these programs to varying degrees.

1998Californias Proposition 227 was passed during the primary election and
effectively restructured education for language minority students by
mandating a one-year structured English immersion (SEI) program,
although parents can choose to opt out of the program. Proponents of 227
have maintained that LEP students have acquired English at a higher rate
since the inception of the proposition in school year 1998-99. Many
academics, however, have found no empirical evidence supporting the
assertion that LEP students have benefited from the legislation.

2000The frenzied bilingual debate showed no sign of slowing down. Arizona

passed Proposition 203 and effectively ended bilingual education in that
state. Led by California software mogul Ron Unz, the non-profit
corporation One Nation, One California is pursuing similar legislation in
Colorado, New York, Massachusetts, and Texas.

This is obviously only a cursory glimpse at the history of bilingual education, but
this summary of laws and events does provide important background and
introduce a number of terms that all teachers need to know and understand.