Summary of Findings

As I began the community inquiry project, I hoped to find out the extent to which the presence of immigrant students with their English-learning needs affected the resources available for the mainstream student population in urban schools. I quickly came to realize that this was not a valid question. Given the existence of specific funds for bilingual education programs granted by the state and federal governments, the focus of my research changed. Instead, I turned my attention to the way in which an equitable education can be guaranteed for all students in an urban school district with a large immigrant, non-English speaking population.

I began by researching the history of bilingual education in the United States, from the initial opposition, through to the creation of the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 during the civil rights era. I discovered that almost from its inception there had been opposition – the main brunt of the argument being over whether bilingual education should focus on transition (a complete move from the native language to English) or maintenance (ensuring that the student maintains their native language while gaining fluency in English). This argument culminated in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which removed any mention of bilingual education from federal law, making it a state issue while encouraging schools to focus on transition for assessment-related reasons.

Further research led to the discovery of the many different types of bilingual education – it seemed that no two programs were ever alike. Again, there was a transition vs. maintenance approach within the different programs.

Most of my data were collected from an interview with the supervisor of a bilingual education program at a New Jersey High School with a large Hispanic population. Turning my findings into a case study of this specific school (given the number of different types of bilingual education program this was my only course of action), I was able to discover the importance of maintaining a positive attitude towards students’ native cultures even when the program is transitional in nature, as well as the importance of models of success in the form of teachers within the program who are immigrants or children of immigrants themselves.

Utilizing census date I came to the conclusion that, with the immigrant population of the United States increasing rapidly (its Hispanic population even more so), effective bilingual education is essential to their success. The substantial undocumented population of immigrants can mean that many students do not get the education they need because of the fear on the part of parents about maintaining regular contact with the school, out of fear of arrest and deportation.

Ultimately, my findings suggest that in order to guarantee an effective education for all students, a bilingual education program is required that offers models of success, encourages of native culture and brings the English-speaking student population into the world of the LEP students.