Bilingual education in American Schools

She bases her argument on the rates for Hispanic students "unable to pass an English-language test after three years of bilingual education" (Ravitch, 1997, p. 94). Ravitch further notes that students unable to develop fluency in English are more likely to fail in life, since "unless students are fluent in English, they will not have a fair chance of graduating from high school, going to college, and getting good jobs" (1997, p. 95). She has a good point. However, her insistence on the abolition of bilingual education as a solution is shortsighted and ignores the considerable research that has led to the establishment of an extensive nationwide program of bilingual education.

Until the early 1960s, public education in the United States consisted of a more ignorant version of Ravitch's approach. Schools used a "sink or swim" policy for students who could not speak English, holding them back until they had mastered English and conducting instruction exclusively in English, regardless of the child's language of origin (Baker, 1981).

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Approximate Word count = 840
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page)

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