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The American coloinies are founded
At least 20 different languages are spoken -
Manhattan Island
Eighteen different languages are spoken on Manhatten Island. Including Dutch,German, French and many Native American languages. Bilingualsim was common. Schools were founded to preserve the native language of new arrivers. -
Louisiana approves instruction in French, English or both.
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The Territory of New Mexico allows Spanish- English bilingual eduation
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Native American children are forced to go to school and speak only English
Even though there were many schools for bilingual eduaction and it was accepted in differet areas of the country some areas were trying to eliminate minority languages. The federal government forced Native American children to go to school away from the reservation and speak and learn only in English. These students were also punished if they spoke in their native language. -
First anti-bilingual education passed in legislation
Two states Winsconsin and Illinois try to institute English only schools. -
U.S. wins the Spanish American War
Puerto Rico and the Phillipiens are colonized. Schools are forced to use English only instruction. English submerssion teaching policy is in affect in Puerto Rico till the 1950's. -
Period: to
World War I & World War II
The beginning of World War I started a panic over the use of German in public places, and because of this 15 states passed a policy of English as the basic language of instruction. This continuted througout World War II when all Japanese schools were forced to close. -
The rebirth of Bilingual Education
Up until the 1960 English only was taugh in schools. Students would be subject to Spanish Detention and kept after school for speaking spanish and it was a crime to speak it in public. If children used any language other then English they were considered deprived and put in classes for the handicaped. Not until Cuban immigrants fleeing the 1959 revolution did bilingual education become rediscoverd at their request. -
Lau v. Nichols
A group of Chinese students that did not speak English sued the San Francisco school districts for violating their Civil Rights by not providing them with the support they needed as English Language Learners. The court ruled in favor of the Chinese students and therefore the parents of these students were able to form a program that helped with the needs of their non-English speaking children. -
Language Instruction for English Language learners
In 1975, as an ammendment to the Lau vs. Nichols case schools were mandated that any school district with more then 5% of English Language learning students must provide special language instruction for those students. -
The Florida Consent Decree
In 1990 a group of civil rights organizations gave the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida and the Florida State board of Education the rights to enforce services for students whose native language is any other then English. These mandates are still the most substantial ones today. -
NCLB
In 2001 The No Child Left Behind Act was passed. This was designed to be a way to measure every students progress and the progress of English Language Learners against Common Core standards. Its purpose is to hold schools, agencies and states accountable for higher achievements for all its students. However, no modifications on these state test assessment are given for ELL's and is not a benefit for students learning English as a second language because the tests do accuratly assess them. -
Williams v. California
In 2000 a group represented by the Mexican American Legal Defence sued the State of California. They claimed that the state did not provide the students with adequatly trained teachers or clean, safe buildings. They were over crowded and didn't have the right materials to teach their children. They won the lawsuit and funding was given for teacher training for ELL students and repairs to the schools. -
2015 English Language Learners
The United States in on its way to making a complete 360. At the time this country was founded, language was embrased and taught. There was then a long time in U.S. history that only English was taught, and if any language other then English was spoken you were punished. Today, programs are being used to bring back awarness of the importance of a persons native langage. Many ELL programs use instruction in both languages to teach ELL students English while keeping their native tongue alive.
