 On Point Vincent Carroll, editor of the editorial pages, writes his On Point column most weekdays. He is also an author and freelance writer. Reach Vincent Carroll at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com. |
Carroll: Cat got their tongues?
So what do they have to say for themselves now?
What does MALDEF — the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund — and the local activists who backed its legal manuevers for years make of the latest study revealing the pathetic progress of students taught in Spanish much of the day in Denver public schools?
Could we hear a few words from U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch, too? Could he explain again, just so we get it straight this time, why it is essential that as many children as possible — the “favored few,” he ironically dubbed them in 1983 — be diverted into instruction that seems to delay their progress learning English? While he’s at it, would he like to defend the consent decree he imposed on the district in 1984, or his disdain during those years for officials who thought kids should be mainstreamed if they spoke English as well as their parents’ native tongue?
And where is Norma Cantu when you most want to hear from her? As chief of Bill Clinton’s Office of Civil Rights, she fought Denver’s plans in the late 1990s to get kids out of mostly Spanish classes in three years instead of four or five, while offering parents an informed choice on the type of instruction they received. Perhaps Cantu could tell us why we should ignore a recent analysis by the Piton Foundation and the University of Colorado that found immigrant students immersed in English in Denver schools do better than those taught mostly in Spanish.
Not that this study is the first such disturbing indicator. There have been many. In the mid-1990s, the district itself admitted that “40 percent of students tested made no progress on a test of oral English proficiency” during a two-year period. Which is why officials were so determined to push reform in the face of federal opposition.
Unlike the bilingual ideologues, however, we’ll attempt to be reasonable. It’s fair to note, for example, that the abysmal performance of students taught largely in Spanish is not necessarily due to that fact. We’ll let Alan Gottlieb, formerly with Piton and now editor of the online publication HeadFirst (HeadFirstColorado.org) explain.
“When we started to tease [the data] apart,” he said recently on Colorado Public Radio, “what came to the fore was that in these schools where the kids were doing badly they’re taught in Spanish and in the schools where they’re doing well, they’re not being taught in Spanish. They’re being taught in English.”
But since most of the kids taught predominately in Spanish were in high-poverty schools and most of those immersed in English were in low-poverty schools, Gottlieb cautioned against premature conclusions.
“It could have something to do with teacher quality, teacher qualifications, or the quality of the curriculum in the Spanish-language program, and have nothing to do with the fact that they’re learning in Spanish,” he said. “I think this is a really good opportunity for Denver Public Schools to step back and really examine what’s going on with the program, which is called English Language Acquisition.”
It’s also time for a little soul searching among those who’ve spent the past quarter-century insisting that it was their way or the highway on bilingual education. Maybe they don’t have all of the answers after all. Maybe the people who’ve pushed for a more rapid transition to English, or more exposure to English from the beginning, weren’t simply narrow-minded, xenophobic and insensitive.
Maybe — just possibly, mind you — they were right.
Vincent Carroll is editor of the editorial pages. Reach him at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com.
I have wondered for a long time if bilingual education (which as a rule in this state is Spanish, despite the fact that Denver has the one of the largest Russian immigrant communites in the US, not too mention large Asian communities) isn't a plot to make sure those students FAIL at English acquisition. Why is English immersion the way to go for every other immigrant group - and - why has it succeeded for every other immigrant group? From everything I have read, bilingual ed is a way to fail in 2 languages - not just one.
Posted by Mary on September 28, 2007 07:22 AMIs anyone surprised at these results? I am not.
Posted by Wayne on September 28, 2007 07:26 AM