An Integral Aspect of the
No Child Left Behind Philosophy

Introduction
Bilingual education, by definition, is an “education strategy that uses English and the native language of students in classroom instruction” (Johnson, 2002). This strategy is at the center of an ongoing debate among educators, government officials and parents of children whose primary language is not English. The premise of proponents of bilingual education is that children need to have instruction in both their native language and English, which would allow them to be fluent in both languages. Others argue that learners need instruction in the English language with use of their native language only as a transitory tool, which would lead to a learner who is fluent only in English.
Imagine that you are a child. Your parents are legal migrant workers in the U. S. and are originally from Mexico. Law requires you to attend school while you are in the U.S.; your parents work in California during the winter, North Carolina during the summer and Florida during the fall. After the harvest season, or when your parents go back to Mexico, you return to Mexico with them and attend school there. The chances are quiet high that while in the United States you attended a school that does not offer bilingual education. When you return to Mexico and to the school in your community, you have fallen behind in developing linguistic skills in Spanish. This scenario would leave you with a learning disability in your home country.
This scenario is a common one. There are other’s too that are just as relevant to today’s societies. Chinese who choose to live in non-English speaking communities, Cubans in Miami and Germans living in Minnesota all should have the ability to have their children educated in the language of their culture, as well as English. The degree to which our society is willing to fund bilingual education is what is really at the core of the debate of bilingual education.
Debates on this subject are divisive. Those in mainstream English culture do not see a pertinent need of learners to be fluent any other language other than English. However, not all people who are living in English speaking countries now will continue to do so later in life. In addition, more people in the United States, other than only English speaking people, speak Spanish, and derivatives of it. Besides, if one were to broach the subject of native languages, none of us would be speaking English anyway. We would be speaking some form of language derived from Native American cultures.
I believe that a person should be able to have the opportunity to study in their native language and English, which would allow them to be bilingual. This would help learners communicate more effectively in their communities, native countries and would help bridge the communication gap between two dissimilar cultures. Moreover, in the context of the “no child left behind” legislation, utilizing bilingual education would be a practical tool in helping Hispanic children. They are at a disadvantage in school because their parents don’t speak English. Bilingual education would help them catch up and be more on track with English speaking students. Of benefit to English speaking people would be the exposure to Hispanic language and culture, which would allow English speaking people to move about the Northern and Southern Hemispheres more freely and with better communication skills.
The subject of bilingual education, and the debate on it, varies widely in different parts of the country. In states where the Hispanic population is greater, an emphasis on bilingual education is a strategy in teaching. Since tax dollars are at stake for funding either strategy, the debate is a controversial topic in states where Hispanics are less prevalent.
Part I
Research on bilingual education has been ongoing for the past 30 years. Most research has yielded positive results in linguistics, cognitive abilities and academic growth of learners who have participated in bilingual education. Implications of this research concludes that literacy in two or more languages benefits learners in the development of literacy and prepares them more efficiently for entering a work environment where diversity in different cultures exists (Ovando, 2000). Conversely, in general, further research indicates that it takes at least five years for a learner who is studying in a language other than their own native language to “catch up” with learners who study in their native language. Conversational fluency with family members during this five-year period “tends to erode” (Ovando, 2000). Understanding research like this and putting it to use in education is a vital way in which we can ensure that non-English speaking children are not left behind, ever. It is also a way to enrich the lives of English speaking children and encourage them to explore other cultures.
There is a program in Cambridge Massachusetts called “The Amigos Program. It is a two-way bilingual education program in which students whose primary language is Spanish and students whose primary language is English are in the same classroom with two teachers. One teacher speaks fluent Spanish and the other speaks English. Researchers have tracked the progress of these students since the programs inception. They have found that, for the most part, children respond positively to the program and are able to function well in both languages. Surveys indicate that most of the Spanish speaking students prefer to learn English because they view that language as more sophisticated. English speaking students enjoy learning Spanish and indicate that it would not make any difference to them if they had been born in a Hispanic culture (Cazabon, 1998).
Multiculturalism is also included in the debate over bilingual education. The two really go hand in hand. In the past 20 years, schools and universities have incorporated multiculturalism in a big way. Some university programs have requirements now that are specific to courses that are multicultural in nature. Multiculturalists’ views clash with Western traditionalists who believe that multicultural reforms are not necessary; however, this is all part living in a democratic society (Banks, 2001).

Part II
The question of segregation becomes an issue when considering bilingual education. One researcher on the subject found that many bilingual programs have students outside of the regular classroom for too long. Learners are “simply dumped into a bilingual class of the appropriate age level” (Glenn (1997). Often learners are place into a bilingual education classroom simply because of their last names. This practice is not as prevalent now as it was in the 1960’s, but in school districts where parents are not as involved as they should be, it is still a concern. “There is also a case for transitional, well-run bilingual classes. The choice among the different methods should be left to parents, most of whom do not want bilingual education, and to the local education authorities, who should heed local desires and needs” (Duigan, 2000).
Bilingualism has become a civil rights issue among many Hispanic people. It is a way to bring respect for their culture and is used as an instrument for fighting discrimination. It is also a way for non-English speaking people to obtain jobs and increase political power (Duigan, 2000). As a majority of the southwestern U.S. encroached on lands where people spoke Spanish, it is only fitting that accommodations be made that reflect an appreciation of that culture. Some Spanish speaking in Mexico people will tell you that they did not move across the border, the border moved across them.
Whatever the intention of educators, it is imperative that we all recognize that we are in a global and interconnected world. We cannot and should not advance ourselves by taking advantage of others. That only perpetuates a culture of mistrust and fear. It is to our advantage to learn to appreciate other cultures that are different from our own. The best way, in my opinion, to do this is to allow sub-cultures to exist and thrive in a healthy and educated fashion. Bilingual education will help make this happen.
Conclusion
Bilingual education research has the potential of helping learners expand on their knowledge base. It would be beneficial to learners whose mothers and fathers language is English only. It is widely accepted that young children, when exposed to different languages at an early age, are able to learn other language skills better than when they attempt to do so later in life. I, for example, have the strong desire to learn Spanish. I feel that in doing so, my life would be enriched. I also feel that it will be an asset in the classroom, when I eventually enter the teaching profession. I was not exposed to Spanish at an early age, therefore learning new dialects and semantics is very difficult for me.
Bilingual education research, in it’s variety of approaches, is a direct response to social, political, educational objectives as well as a response to popular culture. Since Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1968, bilingual education has been studied, experimented with and no one criteria has been adopted (Banks, 2001). As we go through time, I believe that bilingual education will be more accepted by its critics and embraced by those who want our society to be more inclusive.




















Resources

Banks, J., Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2001.
Banks, J. Multicultural Education, Transformative Knowledge and Action, Teachers College Press, New York, 1996.
Cabazon, M., Becoming Bilingual in the Amigos Two-Way Program, http://www.cal.org/crede/pubs/research/rr3.htm Career for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence, 1998.
Duigan, P., Bilingual Education; A Critique, http://wwwhoover.stanford.edu/publications Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Hoover Press, 2000.
Glen, C., The Ambiguous Embrace: Government and Faith-based Schools and Social Agencies, Princeton University Press, 2000.
Johnson, J., Dupuis, V., Musial, D., Hall, G., Gollnick, D. Introduction to the Foundations of American Education, 12th edition, Allen and Bacon, Boston, 2002.
Ovando, C., Mclaren, P., The Politics of Multiculturalism and Bilingual Education, McGraw-Hill, Boston, 2000.

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