Advocates Note Need to Polish ‘Bilingual’ Pitch

Phoenix

Bilingual education advocates at the National Association for Bilingual Education’s annual meeting lamented that they have been unable to convince the public and policymakers that such education has an edge over English-only methods.

They discussed—and sometimes debated—strategies they hoped would get their message out that bilingual education is good for children who are learning English as a new language, and that their position is supported by research studies. In bilingual education programs, students are taught some subjects in their native language while learning English.

“Why is it that the stronger the research support for bilingual education, we get less support from policymakers?” James Crawford, the executive director of the Washington-based NABE, said in a session about identifying strategies to reverse public opinion. About 5,500 educators attended the...