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Many educators and political leaders warned that the passage of Proposition 227 would be a catastrophe for the one in four California students who do not speak English as their primary language. The opponents of bilingual education cite the STAR results as proof that those warnings were misguided and that bilingual education is not the best way for students to learn English -- or other academic subjects.
The STAR program, now in its third year in California, tested students in grades 2 through 8 in reading, written expression, spelling, and mathematics. Students in grades 9 through 12 took tests in reading, writing, math, history and social sciences, and science. Because California law requires that the STAR results be broken down for a variety of subgroups, it is possible to isolate results for students with limited English proficiency. Those results show that the number of second-grade students with limited English proficiency who scored above the 50th percentile increased by
Although the increases were most significant in the lower grades, the number of seventh-grade students with limited English proficiency who scored above the 50th percentile also increased -- by 2 percent in language, reading, and spelling and by 3 percent in math. The number of 11th-grade students who scored above the 50th percentile increased by 1 percent in language and mathematics and remained the same in reading, science, and social science.
Despite the fears of academic disaster expressed by opponents of Proposition 227, the number of students scoring above the 50th percentile did not fall at any grade level in any subject area.
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"The STAR results are a clear indication that we can teach children who have limited English proficiency -- and teach them well -- in English," Ron K. Unz, a driving force behind the anti-bilingual movement, told Education World. Supporters of bilingual education claimed that even if students taught in English learned English better, their academic progress in other subject areas would fall dramatically, Unz noted. "In fact," he said, "test scores in California went up more rapidly in mathematics than they did in English.
"In California, teachers have been the biggest critics and skeptics of bilingual education," Unz added. "Bilingual educational was a fad based on no research. It never worked well, and its future, based on these latest test results, is a lack of existence."
John B. Mockler, California's interim education secretary, for one, begs to differ. Mockler attributes the gains in STAR scores to a number of separate education reforms implemented last year. Those include a reduction in class size at the primary level, a back to basics movement, the return to a phonics-based reading program, and the provision of incentives for teachers who agree to work in disadvantaged areas.
Test scores, bilingual education supporters point out, are up across the board. The increases are not limited to students with limited English proficiency.
Whatever the reasons for the rise in test scores, the results of this year's STAR are likely to have repercussions beyond the state of California. This November, Arizona voters will decide on a proposition to end bilingual education in that state. A number of other states are considering similar bills.
Editor's Note: The press office at The National Association of Bilingual Education failed to respond to numerous Education World requests for reaction to the California test results. U.S. Department of Education spokespersons declined to comment until they've "had more time to review the test results."
Linda Starr
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