Newt Gingrich is wrong on bilingual education

Re: Gingrich critical of bilingual education (April 1)

Newt Gingrich is wrong and Peter Zamora is right:
Bilingual education does a better job of helping
children acquire English than English “immersion.”
Bilingual programs use the child’s first language in
ways that accelerate English language development.

In the last two years, four major reviews (including
one from the US government) have been published
confirming that children in bilingual programs do
better on tests of English reading than those in
all-English programs, including one report from the US
government.

Stephen Krashen

The four major reviews:
1. Slavin, R. and Cheung, A. 2005. A synthesis of
research of reading instruction for English language
learners, Review of Educational Research 75(2):
247-284.
2. Rolstad, K., Mahoney, K., & Glass, G. 2005. The big
picture: A meta-analysis of program effectiveness
research on English language learners. Educational
Policy 19(4): 572-594.
3. Genesse, F., Lindolm-Leary, K., Saunders, W., and
Christian, D. 2005. English Language Learners in U.S.
Schools: An Overview of Research. Journal of
Education for Students Placed at Risk, 10(4), 363–385.
4. Francis, D., Lesaux, N., & August, D. 2006.
Language of instruction, In D. August & T. Shanahan,
(Eds.) Developing literacy in second-language
learners, pp. 365-413. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.