Bilingual Education Act (1968)

Imagine for whatever reason possible, a student had to go live in China. China is a great country to visit and maybe even live in as well. So this student has no previous knowledge of the Chinese language yet they’ll have to live in China and get educated. Let’s say in Chinese schools, they are not willing to take the time to help this student out by translating anything from Chinese to English. Every day until this student leaves China, they will have to sit in a classroom and try to understand everything that is going on. Will this student ever learn and get educated? Now imagine that but in the United States. A person comes to the United States from Mexico with no previous knowledge of English. How are they supposed to go to school and learn if they only hear the language being spoken but do not actually understand the language? This was how it was before 1968. Thanks to the Bilingual Act of 1968, the "Congress mandated the creation and funding of bilingual programs in public schools." This Congress recognized that "there are large and growing numbers of children and youth of limited-English proficiency, many of whom have a cultural heritage that differs from that of their English-proficient peers" and that these children were not learning. The act reads, “in order to ensure equal educational opportunity for all children and youth and to promote educational excellence, to assist State and local educational agencies, institutions of higher education and community-based organizations to build their capacity to establish, implement, and sustain programs of instruction for children and youth of limited English proficiency." Thanks to this act, students of mainly the first generation in the United States can be successful. They can speak their own language when asking questions, understand the material being taught, have academic achievement and still meet state standards. I have seen this first hand at Oak Terrace Elementary School in Highwood. Many of my extended family members have or are attending this school. Because of the many students that have parents whom do not speak English, Oak Terrace has a bilingual program. My cousins/nephews and nieces use the Spanish in their classroom and at the same time are taught in English. The bilingual programs not only help them, but also my aunts and uncles. They understand and can participate in their child’s learning. Something they maybe couldn’t have done if this act was not present. The integration of English and Spanish in a classroom not only helps the Mexican American students, but gives an advantage for those who already know English. At Oak Terrace, students who already know English get taught Spanish at a young age because it gets spoken in the classroom; making them bilingual. (Something that becomes very handy in the future.) By the time they get to high school, these students will have already been advanced in the language. The act of 1968 was one that is really useful and can only develop a student even more. Students who aren't from the United States and don’t have the advantage of English speaking parents can still have the same success as a person who is from United States and has English speaking parents. Maybe this act is also true in China, I don’t know. If it is, the student living there can feel much better : )

"Bilingual Education Act (1968)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 30 Jan. 2010. http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/.