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June 3, 2002
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Bilingual Education: Myths & Realities
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On Monday, June 3, 2002, The Civil Rights Project
held an open public forum at which experts from California and Arizona
examined data on English immersion programs in California, offered
a candid assessment of the programs, and presented the most recent
evidence on the effectiveness of the California programs. Other
panelists addressed the current state of bilingual education programs
in Massachusetts and the prospects for the future of these programs.
The coming year may prove critical to issues of equal
educational opportunity for English language learners. This November,
Massachusetts citizens will vote on a measure that proposes to eliminate
the state's bilingual education programs, supported by California
businessman Ron Unz. The sponsors of the Massachusetts voter initiative
argue that Massachusetts should enact California's policy because
it has succeeded there. This forum analyzed the debate with current
California data and further explored the myths and realities of
bilingual education through dialogue with experts:
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Delaine Eastin, California State Superintendent
of Public Instruction
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Patricia Gandara, University of California at
Davis and Associate Director of Policy of the U.C. Linguistic
Minority Research Institute
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Jeff MacSwan, Arizona State University·
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Theresa Austin, University of Massachusetts
at Amherst
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Ester de Jong, University of Florida
Below are presentations made by the panelists:
Below are research papers mentioned at the forum:
- ¿Exito en California?
A Validity Critique of Language Program Evaluations and Analysis
of English Learner Test Scores, Education Policy Analysis Archives,
10(7) MacSwan, Jeff, Thompson, Marilyn, DiCerbo, Kristen, and
Mahoney, Kate (in PDF format);
- The
Initial Impact of Propsition 227 on the Instruction of English
Learners, Language Minority Research Institute Gandara, Patricia,
Maxwell-Jolly, Julie, Garcia, Eugene, Asato, Jolynn, Gutierrez,
Kris, and Curry, Julia (in PDF format);
- Year 2 Report:
Evaluation of the Effects of the Implementation of Proposition
227 on the Education of English Learners, K-12. Parrish, T.B.,
Linquanti, R., Merickel, A., Quick, H.E., Laird, J., and Esra,
P. (in
PDF format).
- Achievement Effects of Bilingual Education vs. English Immersion:
Evidence from California's Proposition 227 (is available at
http://www.nber.org) Hoxby,
Caroline and Kremer, Michael.
Below you will find the latest policy paper by The
Civil Rights Project on bilingual education:
# # #
I. WELCOME
Gary Orfield and Christopher Edley, Jr., Co-Directors,
The Civil Rights Project, Harvard University
II. Results from the Unz Initiative
in California
The panelists will discuss the impact of the Unz Initiative in California.
Specifically, they will examine data on English immersion programs
in California, and present the most recent evidence on the effectiveness
of the California programs.
Moderator:
Gary Orfield, Harvard Graduate School of Education, The Civil
Rights Project
Panelists:
Delaine Eastin, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Patricia Gandara, University of California at Davis and Associate
Director of Policy of the U.C. Linguistic Minority Research Institute
Jeff MacSwan, Arizona State University
III. BILINGUAL EDUCATION:
WHAT'S AT STAKE FOR MASSACHUSETTS
The panelists will address the current state of bilingual education
programs in Massachusetts and the prospects for the future of these
programs.
Moderator:
Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, Harvard Graduate School of Education
IV. Q & A FROM THE AUDIENCE AND CLOSING REMARKS
Christopher Edley, Jr., Harvard Law School, The
Civil Rights Project
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