The fear that the new responsiveness to ethnicity is undermining what has been, on the whole, a success will not go away. Whatever their backgrounds, when students leave the school they must function in an English-speaking environment. (Author/IRT)

Describes what has happened and what may happen to the bilingual education movement. Explains how Congress, the courts, State governments, and education associations are wrestling with the problem. (Author/DN)

Other nations' experience shows that reception programs and home language programs for immigrant children can become academic dead ends if not integrated with the school's overall program. The same is true of U.S. transitional bilingual education programs. Hard work, sensitivity, and commitment to newcomers' full participation are more important…

Emphasis on the positive--the ability to read and appreciate books in another language--changes the entire tone of discussion about bilingualism and multiculturalism. Bilingualism advocates are no longer seen as aggrieved parties, as people demanding special programs in sufficient measure. Best path is maintaining a child's first language divorced…

The array of federal and state bilingual programs are not coordinated and are not being implemented. Increased structural and philosophical support for bilingual and bicultural education is needed to give the growing number of Latino learners greater opportunities for viable education. (Author/IRT)

The Alaskan Eskimos are an indigenous people beset by underemployment, economic dependency, low self-esteem, and feelings of inferiority in the face of the dominant white culture. Although a well-financed bilingual program is offered, students at Brevig Mission School speak Village English, a combination of English and Inupiaq. Often, test content…

Claudio Sanchez, education correspondent for National Public Radio, grew up in two cultures, saw his parents' marriage dissolve, and watched his mother toil to keep family together and get her children educated. Sanchez spends working hours searching for stories illustrating that kind of travail. Focusing on issues of abandonment and neglect, he…

Horace Mann's goal of creating a common school that brings our society's children together in mutual respect and common learning need not be frustrated by residential segregation and geographical separation of the haves and have-nots. Massachusetts' new common school vision boasts a Metro Program for minority students, 80 magnet schools, and…

Meier and Krashen, both employed in California's education system, do an injustice to students in rehashing an already settled battle. Fed up with two decades of failure, California voters replaced bilingual education with structured English immersion. Meier and Krashen offer no suggestions for coping with Proposition 227. (27 references) (MLH)

Describes what one district has done to comply with Lau regulations; examines the uneasy relationship that has developed between the district and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW); and discusses some of the implications for control of local schools inherent in the district's conflict with HEW. (IRT)

A commonly held notion of how earlier generations of immigrants were educated--often used as the chief argument supporting English immersion--is a myth. Far from succeeding by immersing themselves in English, immigrant groups did much worse than the native-born; some groups, particularly Italians, did much worse than others. Research findings are…

Summarizes the sociopolitical and pedagogical debates over bilingual and bicultural education. Reviews research findings on the effects of bilingual education, discusses issues concerning public expenditures for bilingual programs and the effects of language on social cohesion and academic failure, and advocates adopting an official national…

An unprecedented number of foreign-born children in California classrooms are forcing educators to rethink school programs, structures, policies, and staffing. Schools are largely overwhelmed by demographic changes, war-traumatized and undocumented children, tremendous academic gaps, and cultural and language diversity. Classroom methods and…