"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Saturday, April 02, 2016

Bilingual education has the data and the research!


Sent to the Dallas Morning News, April 2, 2016

"Pioneers in bilingual education to reunite at TWU in Denton" (April 1) concludes with an important statement by Prof. Martha Morolez-de Anda: “We have the data, the research, and the skills, but not enough bilingual education teachers.”
The public is not aware of how right Prof. Morolez-de Anda is. Studies done over several decades have shown that bilingual education works: students in bilingual programs outperform students with similar backgrounds in all-English programs on tests of English reading. 
The data and research supporting bilingual education is stronger than ever. In a recent study, California State San Marcos Professors Grace and David McField reviewed all previous studies comparing bilingual education and English immersion. Their conclusion: when both program quality and research quality are considered, the superiority of bilingual education for promoting English literacy is substantial, considerably larger than previously reported.
Stephen Krashen
Professor Emeritus
University of Southern California

Original article:
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/mercedes-olivera/20160401-pioneers-in-bilingual-education-to-reunite-at-twu-in-denton.ece
Source: McField, G. and McField, D.  2014. "The consistent outcome of bilingual education programs: A meta-analysis of meta-analyses." In: The Miseducation of English Learners, edited by Grace McField, and published by Information Age  Publishing.

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