Friday, October 14, 2016

What does the research say about dropouts and bilingual education?

Sent to the San Diego Union-Tribune Oct. 14 2016

The Union-Tribune claims that dismantling bilingual education caused the number of dropouts among Hispanic students to decline ("Graduation gains, history require rejection of Prop. 58," October 13).
Research does not show that language is the main factor in predicting dropout rates. Many factors contribute to dropping out, including factors related to  poverty: Young people have to work to help their families.
Even if English mastery were the main factor in school completion, bilingual education can not be the problem.  Research consistently shows that bilingual education is good for English development: Scientific studies have consistently shown that students in bilingual programs outperform comparison students in all-English programs on tests of English reading.

Stephen Krashen
Professor Emeritus
University of Southern California

Original article: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/editorials/sd-no-prop-58-english-instruction-20161012-story.html

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