Week 3: Assignment 2- Language Minorities and Education

    The three major groups of language minority students who continue to be negatively affected by U.S public school policy are the American Indians, African Americans and Latinos.  The time line of events in history show how the American Indians attempted to maintain their own traditional educational system.  Yet, when the Anglo-Americans gained control over the American West, they lost their land and autonomy.  U.S policy was aimed at assimilating American Indians into mainstream U.S culture, so they were forced to receive an English-only education. 
     From the beginning of time, African Americans were treated as slaves and denied the right to an education.  It was after W.W I, that African Americans who were free, were allowed to receive an education.  But, because of school segregation, they were not allowed to receive the same education as Whites. It was many year later and after many court battles, that African Americans were afforded the right to an equal education as White people.  Latinos are the largest group of language minorities. 
     Early history shows that Latinos have been marginalized and treated inferior to Whites. With respect to education, there were no regards towards their language needs.  English instruction was mandated in almost all schools.  In 1968, the Bilingual Education Act was passed in order to address the needs of all language minorities.  Schools incorporated ESL and bilingual education into their curriculum. 
     While strides have been made in education for these groups, the "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2002, has taken us backwards by making English instruction the priority.  I think this is unfair to language minorities because it places unrealistic expectations on their academic achievement.  It is unfair to assess them with the same tests that are given to students in mainstream classes.  These assessments neglect cultural and racial differences that affect student performance.  Hence, they are not an accurate representation of students' knowledge or skills.  It is unfortunate to see how minorities are still affected by U.S policy in this day and age.  After many court battles and educational policies to improve education for all, minorities are still attending overcrowded schools with little resources and unqualified teachers compared to their White peers.