Language education policy in Arizona has been on a rollercoaster over the last five years. Between 2019 and 2024, the state shifted from strict English-only enforcement to loosening restrictions and encouraging dual language approaches, then back to strict English-only enforcement. In this forum piece, we use approaches from critical discourse…

Despite the well-documented benefits of bilingualism, current educational practices in the United States reflect the deeply held belief that because the United States is an English speaking country, English should be the language of instruction. This belief was codified into law in California via the 1998 passage of Proposition 227, which banned…

Under critical examination, the English language and its use in daily interactions carry with them symbolic values in our social world, including social mobility, educational achievement, and employment. Its representations in government bodies, mass media, education, and legal documents have further increased those values and subtly created a…

In this discussion, I explore the unfolding effects of Arizona's anti-bilingual education law (Proposition 203) on schools with predominant language-minority student populations. Instead of facilitating academic progress, policies like Proposition 203 impede teachers from "scaffolding" (Long & Adamson, 2012, p. 39) their students'…

This article uses Foucault's (1977/1995) concept of normalization to analyze contemporary opposition to bilingual education in the United States. These contemporary movements have "normalized" English language learner (ELL) students by appropriating the technology of language in order to become "Americanized." This has become…

This article reviews the current policy context in the state of Arizona for program options for English language learners and produces a meta-analysis of studies on the effectiveness of bilingual education that have been conducted in the state in or after 1985. The study presents an analysis of a sample of evaluation studies (N = 4), which…

Examined how teachers were impacted by California's Proposition 227, highlighting changes in teaching styles and beliefs about the proposition and its effectiveness. Teachers had to change their teaching strategies to accommodate the new curriculum. They were not sufficiently trained for immediate implementation of English-only education. Teaching…

The proportion of California's limited English speaking students is increasing rapidly. Language minority students represent more than one-third of all students in California public schools. The most central educational outcome for these students is English proficiency. Research varies on how long it takes for students to become English…

A study of 8 California school districts immediately following passage of Proposition 227, and another study of 39 districts a year later interviewed personnel, principals, and teachers about implementation of the English Only initiative. Specific implementation strategies reflected schools' previous programmatic efforts for limited English…

Numerous simultaneous educational reforms and limited data prevent drawing conclusions about the independent effects of California's Proposition 227, a 2-year-old English Only initiative. Achievement scores show little benefit for English learners. Observational data indicate that implementation of high stakes testing has encouraged teaching that…