The Education Intelligence Agency reports that English immersion classes are working in Arizona:
A study released last week by the Arizona Department of Education concludes that students in English immersion classes “outperformed bilingual education students in every grade level between second and eighth grade in reading, language and math, based on Stanford 9 scores.”
“There is not a single exception,” Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne told the Arizona Republic. “It tells us that the students in English immersion do substantially better.”
Since a 2000 voter-approved law made immersion the state’s primary method for teaching limited-English students, the study was very good news for everyone… almost.
Bet you'll never guess for whom this study is very, very bad news. That's right - the National Association for Bilingual Education, who said the study was "irresponsible" (how dare they collect data to see if an educational program is working!) and who insists that English immersion has no "track record" - that is, if you don't count the many, many millions of immigrants who learned English in US schools back when immersion was the only choice offered.
Posted by kswygert at August 10, 2004 09:59 AM