MODELS OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION

THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF ALL BILINGUAL PROGRAMS IS
TO FOSTER PROFICIENCY AND ACADEMIC LITERACY IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

In 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Lau v. Nichols decided:
If students do not understand English, they do not have equal access to a quality education even if they have the same facilities, books, teachers and curriculum.
-This case established bilingual education in the United States

Transitional Bilingual Education
The most common model; this method is the one currently in place in Massachusetts schools

• Students are taught primarily in their native language while also learning English as a Second Language.
• After about 3 years, students are transferred (mainstreamed) into English only classes.

Developmental/Maintenance Bilingual Education

• Students receive instruction in the native language and are also given classes in English as a Second Language.
• Students can stay in this program until they have developed fluency in both languages.

Two-way Bilingual Education
This type of program is growing in popularity across the country and there are usually long waiting lists for students wanting to enter these programs

• Native English speakers and native speakers of other languages learn together in the same classroom to develop bilingual fluency in both languages and encourages appreciation of both cultures and communities.

Sources:
Nieto, Sonia. We Speak in Many Tongues.
Walters, L. "The Bilingual Education Debate"; The Harvard Education Letter May/June 1998