How Are English Learners Faring Under Proposition 227?
California educates the most English learner students in the United States, by far. In 1998, California voters passed Proposition 227, mandating that English learners entering California schools be placed in structured English immersion for a period “not normally to exceed one year,” then be transferred to mainstream classrooms taught “overwhelmingly in English.” To track the effects of Proposition 227, the California Department of Education commissioned a five-year evaluation of the proposition’s implementation and impact. This summary of the study undertaken by the American Institutes for Research and WestEd highlights the full report’s findings and recommendations.
