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The National Defense Education Act in 1958

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The National Defense Education Act in 1958

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Conversations about the quality of education started after the Russians launched their Sputnik satellite into space in the year of 1957. It caused US politicians and the public to have discourse surrounding the competence to compete in an international world. This led to the National Defense Education Act in 1958 to be passed. This decision led to foreign language learning within the school curriculum at the elementary, middle school, high school, and university levels. At this time, English was the priority language being taught in mainstream schools, so this was a shift in US society to accept ethnic groups speaking in other languages.

This event is important to Bilingual Education today because it is why schools include foreign languages in the curriculum and it has created student exposure to languages outside of their native one. It created there to be enhanced perspective for students to understand other cultures through language learning. Also, this event has caused there to be an emphasis on the importance of bilingualism because of the many benefits it has in learning through the education system.

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The National Defense Education Act in 1958

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In 1967, Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough introduced a Bilingual Education Act. This was as an amendment of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). It was to originally help those students who were Spanish-speakers that were being failed by the school system. It resulted in including all students whose first language was not English. The Title VII of the ESEA was enacted in 1968 and known as the Bilingual Education Act (BEA). The BEA allowed federal funds for students' education who were speakers of languages other than English.

This event is important to Bilingual Education today because it is the reason that bilingual education programs were to be part of the federal educational policy. It has shaped the world of education in the US for the better for students who are not native in English. This positive impact allows students who are bilingual or multilingual to gain access to the education they deserve.

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Chinese students on the Immigrants Development Center of San Francisco in the 1970s.

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Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court Case in 1974

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Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court Case in 1974

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In 1974, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students for this case because the Chinese-speaking students were not being met with adequate educational resources or support in school in San Francisco. The Court was in support of students who were not yet proficient in English by declaring the school district violated the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

This event is important to Bilingual Education today because it created there to be the Lau remedies, which is a set of guidelines for school districts to follow so those students who are not native in English can get access to the resources they need for their education. This applies to classes such as English as a second language, English tutoring, and/or bilingual education. This court case has paved the way for education to be equitable for English learners as they navigate language barriers in their school settings.

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President George Bush signed NCLB into law on January 8, 2002. 

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No Child Left Behind (NCLB) became approved on December 13, 2001, in the House of Representatives. Due to this, the Title VII Bilingual Education Act was eliminated. ELL concerns were addressed under the Title III, "Language Instruction for Limited English Proficient and Immigrant Students". This created the new reference to ELLs, which was "limited English proficient" (LEP). This term caused there to be a negative connotation around ELLs and their learning to be viewed from a place of deficit rather than a place of gain. The NCLB required that schools had to track and report the academic progress of ELLs each year and if students did not make enough progress, the school or teacher would face sanctions. The NCLB created many unfair expectations and unrealistic standards on schools, educators, and students.

This event is important to Bilingual Education today because even though the testing was unfair for students in many ways, it caused there to be conversations regarding the measurement of progress for those students learning English. Now we try to measure the progress of students learning English fairly with realistic assessments that do not penalize them for continuing to acquire the language.

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On December 10, 2025, President Barack Obama signed the ESSA into law.  

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When President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, it replaced the NCLB. This new act reflected on the unrealistic achievement expectations from NCLB and aimed to consider students' growth over time rather than just assessing test scores. The requirements for English language proficiency standards and assessments for ELLs were moved from Title III to Title I. The requirements were moved to be included with the academic achievement testing and accountability requirements of Title I.

This event is important to Bilingual Education today because it allows states to track the progress of ELLs as a separate subgroup and ensures the language and academic needs of ELLs are met. It has created there to be more flexibility in testing for ELLs such as accommodations. The ESSA is important today because it encourages bilingual programs to help students become proficient in English, without focusing on English-only instruction like how it was in the past. This encourages ELLs to maintain their home languages without the force of assimilation.

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Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015 obama