English 1

Policies of the Department of Education regarding the teaching of English in the past 114 years

By gcrespope76

  • 1898-1900

    1898-1900
    Dr. John Eaton and Dr. Victor Clark establish that Puerto Rican teachers should learn English to obtain better opportunities on being hired.

  • 1902-1904

    1902-1904
    The use of English increased with the vision of making it the official language in Puerto Rican school.

  • 1900-1902

    1900-1902
    The Department of Public Instruction was created with an assigned Comissioner. The educational policy proposed that Spanish will be kept and English was going to be learned as a special course.

  • 1905-1913

    1905-1913
    Spanish Language is suppressed and the English language is used as the medium of instruction in all grades of the School System.

  • 1913

    1913
    Spanish was inducted in first grade for some classes, such as hygiene and health and it was recommended that the reading process was done in Spanish.

  • 1915

    1915
    A project was presented to make mandatory the Spanish language as the medium of instruction.

  • 1916

    1916
    It was established that the Spanish was the teaching vehicle from 1st to 4th grade and English was used in half of the subjects in the 5th grade and the other half in Spanish and likewise for grades from 6th to 8th grade.

  • 1917

    1917
    Linguistic controversy continued. World War I breaks, Puerto Ricans are granted citizenship and is required in schools to explain to students the acts of patriotism.

  • 1930

    1930
    This was a very difficult time for Puerto Rico from the point of view of economic, social and educational. The Commissioner Dr. Jose Padin was the first to expose that English is a foreign language from the educational point of view and he gave emphasis to English as a second language with many enrichment programs. As a result Spanish was adopted as the language of instruction in the teaching of geography, history and mathematics and leaving the English as a special subject from 1st grade.

  • 1934

    1934
    The language policy again shifted toward asimilation when Blanton S. Winthrop named governer by President Franklin Roosevelt, made English the language of instruction in all grades.

  • 1936

    1936
    At that time the Commissioner Jose M. Gallardo was named Commissioner of Education. The President of the United States complained that Puerto Ricans had not learned English and wished that all instruction was in English so that the next generation would speak English. The Commissioner of Education tried to implement a bilingual program, but many public protests were made and it was not permitted.

  • 1941

    1941
    Winthrop's policy was modified in which English was established as the language of instruction in secondary schools. Another shift toward nationalism occured by the Popular Party candidate and first elected Governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Muñoz Marín, who established Spanish as the language of instruction in all grades. English was to be taught for one period a day as a second language.

  • 1942

    1942
    Spanish prevailed until 6th grade and the English continued as a subject.

  • 1948

    1948
    The vernacular was used as a teaching vehicle up to 9th grade. The Commissioner of Education, Dr. Mariano Villaronga ended the lengthy discussion of bilingualism.

  • 1949

    1949
    Decret the vernacular teaching at all levels of the public school starting in the school year 1949-1950.

  • 1968

    1968
    In the United States was signed the Bilingual Education Act or Title VII by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

  • 1970

    1970
    From the decade of 1970 in the Department of Education of Puerto Rico has requested funds to meet the needs of the students that are returning from the United States.

  • 1972-1976

    1972-1976
    In the schools "Padre Rufo y Papa Juan XXIII" bilingual projects were implanted by the Popular Party government.

  • 1978

    1978
    Since 1978 the U.S. Congress authorize that bilingual education projects in Puerto Rico could have the focus toward learning Spanish for the functioning of the students that returned to the education system in Puerto Rico.

  • 1984

    1984
    In the power of the "Partido Nuevo Progresista" under the leadership of the Honorable Carlos Romero Barcelo, the Bilingual Education program is transferred to projects as part of the English Department.

  • 1991

    1991
    "Spanish Only" was a legislation approved as, Law Number 4, April 5, 1991 by the Popular Party .

  • 1993

    1993
    Bilingual Education projects are autonomous and a Director in Property is appointed to lead the Bilingual Education Program. The "Spanish Only" law was revoked and substituded for Law Number 1, January 28, 1993, a Pro Statehood Party Language policy which established both English and Spanish as official languages on the island.

  • 2012

    2012
    Puerto Rico begins with the Bilingual Education for the 21st Century, BEC 21 project for Elementary Schools and ES21 for Middle and High Schools.