AUSTIN – Texas’ bilingual education programs have produced poor results for both students and taxpayers, and should be replaced with an immersion-based approach to English-language instruction, according to new research released today by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
“Bilingual education in Texas is more expensive than other programs for students learning the English language,” said Christine Rossell, Ph.D., a professor at Boston University and noted expert on bilingual education. “That it is also the least educationally effective suggests that it is not the best program for Texas.”
The Foundation commissioned Dr. Rossell to produce, “Does Bilingual Education Work? The Case of Texas.” The report analyzes the history and effectiveness of Texas’ bilingual education programs, and makes policy recommendations on how Texas schools can best teach English to non-English speaking students.
The report found that bilingual education in Texas has a negative effect on English language learner (ELL) achievement.
“Bilingual education has a negative effect on reading, math, writing, and science achievement in English,” Dr. Rossell said. “Furthermore, lower testing rates for ELL students artificially raise ELL achievement because the lowest scoring students are not tested.”
The report also found that bilingual education programs cost more than alternative approaches such as English immersion.
“Texas schools with a bilingual education program spend $402 more per student than schools without a bilingual education program,” Dr. Rossell said. “Other studies find that bilingual education costs $200 to $700 more per pupil than alternative approaches for English language learners.”
Dr. Rossell recommended that Texas follow the model of virtually every other state by switching its default ELL instruction approach to “sheltered English immersion.” Such an approach involves second-language learners only, taught by a teacher trained in second-language acquisition techniques. Instruction is almost entirely in the second language, but at a pace the child can understand.
“Texas’ future depends on our ability to help our large and growing population of students with limited English proficiency to become fluent in English as quickly as possible,” said TPPF education policy analyst Brooke Terry. “Our new research shows conclusively that bilingual education programs are failing them.”
Christine Rossell, Ph.D. holds the Maxwell Chair in United States Citizenship and is the former chairman of the Political Science Department at Boston University. Her research interests include bilingual education, school desegregation, and educational policy. She has been conducting research and writing on bilingual education for the last three decades.
Brooke Terry is an education policy analyst at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin.
Texas PolicyCast interview with Dr. Rossell: www.policycast.com/texas/cast/tpc-435-rossell.mp3 Primary website: www.TexasPolicy.com Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/TexasPublicPolicyFoundation Twitter feed: www.Twitter.com/TPPF
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