As the 1968 Bilingual Education Act (BEA) reaches its 50th anniversary, we provide a critical historical review of its contradictory origins and legacy. By distilling the BEA's history into three periods that we label "power to the people," "pride for the people," and "profit from the people," we demonstrate that the…

This essay traces the bilingual education movement that began in Tucson through the efforts of local teachers, university faculty and educational leaders. It is argued that Mexican Americans and their allies played a crucial role in promoting the merits of bilingual education at the local, state and national levels. Their advocacy of…

Relying on life history and memory as methodology, this essay unearths the memories of schooling of five Mexican American teachers at a dual-language school in San Antonio, locating their memories of trauma within the history of language oppression and cultural exclusion in U.S. public schools. In re(membering) their schooling experiences as…

The federal Bilingual Education Act (BEA; 1968) augured a new era in the national politics of diversity, schooling, and state, and California became symbolic of the problems and promise of bilingual pedagogy. This article explores how the BEA was pivotal not only in conceiving a federal commitment to the educational achievement of…

Disillusionment with the many bilingual programs developed under Title VII, 1965 Elementary Secondary Education Act, indicates only a lessened commitment, and a justifiably more cautious approach; the seeds of doubts, the problems, and possibly the likelihood of failure were built into the program from the beginning. (Author/JM)

Discusses the way that the concept of biculturalism was conveyed in a Title VII elementary school classroom with Mexican American and Anglo students. Holds that the concept of culture was oversimplified, emphasizing regalia (flags, posters, etc.), and obscuring social processes such as racial discrimination. (GC)

This volume contains the complete text of two Senate bills designed to improve bilingual educational opportunities for children of limited English-speaking ability. One of the bills would amend Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Also included in the volume are numerous statements concerning bilingual education made by Federal…

Address given at the Fifth Annual Meeting of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), in Chicago, Illinois, November 26, 1971. (DS)

Address before the Joint Conventions of the Modern Language Association and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, New York, New York, December 28, 1968.

In preparation for the National Bilingual Institute which was held November 28-December 1, 1973, a mail survey of fifth year ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) Title VII Bilingual Education Projects was conducted. Its purpose was to obtain data relative to the progress of bilingual bicultural education programs since implementation of…

Sociolinguistic information is needed for proper implementation of bilingual education programs. The survey discussed here was designed to provide information on the sociolinguistic parameters in the bilingual community, identification of the transfer or maintenance status of Spanish, and the selection of a bilingual education program. A…

This bulletin summarizes the arguments for bilingual education in the United States. More than one language is needed as the medium of instruction where the child's mother tongue may not be English. Instruction in a weaker language not only retards reading, but arithmetic and other subjects are not as well learned if the child must cope with…

This newsletter is designed for use by teachers, counselors, and administrators involved in bilingual-bicultural education. In the first article C. V. Perez describes bilingual education programs in New York State. J. N. Vieira writes in Portuguese about the Brown University bilingual program. In her article "Portuguese Happenings," J.…

The author takes issue with an unnamed supervisory educator who opposes bilingual education. Wilson points out that to avoid wasting human resources it is essential that better education be provided for Mexican-Americans in order to cut down the repeating of grades and dropping out by students whose "home language" is not English.…