Impacts of Bilingual Education on Secondary School Grades, Attendance, Retentions and Drop-Out

Abstract

Junior high and high school academic performance of two groups of students were compared in a quasi-experimental study. The experimental group students (N = 86) had received one or more years of bilingual instruction at the elementary level while the control group students (N = 90) had not participated in an elementary bilingual program. While differences in grade-point average (GPA) and absenteeism were small, the bilinguals were less likely to drop-out and experienced fewer retentions. Secondary analyses focused on the relationships within the experimental group between number of years enrolled in bilingual programs and secondary school outcomes. The relationships of number of years to ab-senteeism and to retention were quite weak. Important relationships between number of years and GPA and between number of years and drop-out were observed. As number of years increased, mean GPA in 7th, 8th and 9th grades increased and the probability of drop-out decreased.

English‐Language Assistance Programs, English‐Skill Acquisition, and the Academic Progress of High School Language Minority Students

“…The majority of work analyzing ELA programs involves elementary school students, although a few exceptions exist. For example, Curiel, Rosenthal and Richek (1986) find some evidence in favor of BE at the junior high and high school levels. Conversely, Ho (1985) fails to uncover empirical advantages for native-language instruction versus English-immersion in six academic subjects but one (economics/public affairs) for eighth graders.…”

The School Counselor's Role in School Dropout Prevention

“…Academic instruction.If cognitive factors are considered, children with higher IQs are less likely to drop out of school than are those with lower assessed intelligence, although familial factors (e.g., maternal depression) may outweigh any protective influence of high cognitive ability (Bohon et al, 2007). Several intervention studies used intensive academic instruction in the basic skills of mathematics, reading, and language arts for children identified as at risk for school failure (Curiel, Rosenthal, & Richek, 1986;Meyer, 1984;Temple et al, 2000). Based on information in the available literature, it appears that most supports for teachers (e.g., teacher aides, classroom volunteers) that allow for time for basic skills instruction are most prominent in the elementary grade levels (K-6), with relatively little support of this kind available in the higher grades.…”

Native and Spanish Language Proficiency in a Bilingual Education Program

“…Cummins's second hypothesis, a dual-level threshold hypothesis, supports the initial development of bilingual learners' L 1 proficiency to avoid early negative effects on their cognitive growth and to enhance their accelerated growth in later grades. Both hypotheses illuminate the sequential importance of developing and maintaining L 1 proficiency to the later emergence of L 2 • Supporting Cummins's (1979Cummins's ( , 1981Cummins's ( , 1984 theoretical framework is an emerging body of research including longitudinal evidence, which supports the positive out-101 comes of bilingual education program practices (Curiel, Rosenthal, & Richek, 1986;Medina & de la Garza, 1989;Medrano, 1986;Willig, 1985). Fernandez and Nielsen (1986), using a national data base, examined the effects of English and Spanish proficiency on high school Hispanics' academic achievement.…”

“…A recent study by Medrano (1986) reported significant benefits in mathematics achievement for 179 Mexican-American students participating in a bilingual education program. Several scholars (Curiel, Rosenthal, & Richek, 1986) discovered that Hispanic secondary students exposed to an elementary bilingual education program experienced significantly less grade retention and lower dropout rates, and they were younger than Hispanic counterparts in an English-only traditional curriculum because of appropriate age-grade placements. In a study to determine the sustaining effects of an MBE program during Grades 1 through 5 across 7 subsequent years, researchers found that by the 12th grade MBE subjects were at or above national norms for English achievement in reading and mathematics.…”