Key Events in the History of Bilingual Education Timeline by Holly Rohrbach

1906 - Nationality Act

rohr0984 — 2024-05-22 14:55:06 UTC

This act created new rules one must follow in order to attain United States citizenship. Among these was a requirement that to be naturalized, an immigrant must be able to speak English. This is important to Bilingual Education today because it shows that even more than a century ago, language bias existed and was widely accepted. As educators, we can learn from this bias and the implications it had on immigrants and “native” citizens alike.

1968 - Title VII Bilingual Education Act

rohr0984 — 2024-05-22 15:08:17 UTC

The Title VII Bilingual Education Act established one of the first federal policies in favor of Bilingual Education. The grants provided to bilingual programs through this act benefited multilingual learners and students of low socioeconomic status. This act was important to Bilingual Education because it recognized the benefits of teaching students their home languages and provided funding accordingly. This act was a trailblazer for future policies in favor of Bilingual Education.

1983 - US English Movement

rohr0984 — 2024-05-22 15:14:04 UTC

The United States English Movement lobbied for the use of English as the official language of the United States. Not only this, but this organization also voiced their opposition to the use of other languages in federal institutions like government and education. This 1983 movement is important to Bilingual Education today because it acknowledged the dominance of the English language in not only society and the government, but the educational sphere as well.

2009 - Race to the Top

rohr0984 — 2024-05-22 15:16:06 UTC

This 2009 reform allotted 4.3 billion dollars to be spent on education reform. This included more focused assessments, including those for minority populations like multilingual learners and students with disabilities. These assessments aimed to prepare students for college and careers. This act was important to Bilingual Education because it supported the growth of bilingual programs, but did not provide what was really needed to help them grow and become as effective as possible. Race to the Top focused more on assessment and high-stakes testing than on student growth.

2011 - Seal of Biliteracy

rohr0984 — 2024-05-22 15:17:41 UTC

In 2011, the state of California began offering bilingual students the opportunity to be officially recognized as bilingual. A seal of biliteracy on their high school diploma indicates a graduate’s proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in more than one language. This is important to Bilingual Education because it not only recognizes the benefits of having proficiency in multiple languages, but it also encourages students to reach a high level of linguistic ability.