Executive Summary

TLDR

The study examined whether Spanish‑speaking LEP students could catch up to English‑speaking peers when taught in English only versus in their primary language, comparing three instructional programs. Over four years, a longitudinal study followed more than 2,000 elementary Spanish‑speaking LEP children across three programs—Structured English‑Immersion, Early‑Exit, and Late‑Exit Transitional Bilingual—recording extensive child, family, classroom, teacher, school, district, and community data. Results showed that substantial primary‑language instruction enabled LEP students to catch up in English language arts, reading, and math, whereas English‑only instruction did not accelerate progress and may lead to falling behind by sixth grade; learning a second language requires six or more years, and teachers need better training to support LEP learners.

Abstract

Abstract This congressionally mandated study was directed to assess the relative effectiveness of using only-English or the non-English home language of the limited-English-proficient (LEP) child as the language of instruction to help the child acquire English language and content skills. Reflecting the objective of federally sponsored services to LEP students, the research question addressed by this study was: Which of three alternative instructional programs designed to meet the needs of Spanish-speaking LEP students helped them to “catch-up” to their English-speaking peers? The three programs included: Structured English-Immersion Strategy, Early-Exit, and Late-Exit Transitional Bilingual Programs. These programs differed in the amount of and the length of time that the LEP student's primary language was used for instruction. This longitudinal study followed over 2,000 elementary children for four years. The comprehensive data collection documented an array of child, family, classroom, teacher, school, district, and community information. The study concluded that providing LEP students with substantial instruction in their primary language does not interfere with or delay their acquisition of English language skills, but helps them to “catch-up” to their English-speaking peers in English language arts, English reading, and math. In contrast, providing LEP students with almost exclusive instruction in English does not accelerate their acquisition of English language arts, reading or math, i.e., they do not appear to be “catching-up.” The data suggest that by grade six, students provided with English-only instruction may actually fall further behind their English-speaking peers. Data also document that learning a second language will take six or more years. The results revealed the need to improve the training of teachers assigned to work with limited-English-proficient students so that they can provide a more active learning environment for the development of language and higher order thinking skills.