Module 4 Reflection of Dr. Mary Combs Conversation

• Lau v Nichols was the first conversation that took place with Dr. Marry Combs. to be honest, this idea was so complex that I actually had to go back and watch these interviews twice in order to obtain all the information effectively. This was basically such a great case to know about as an educator because of three reasons that she provided. The first was that the courts voted unanimously that the civil rights of students who did not understand the language of instruction in the classroom was being violate. Secondly, this was one of the strongest endorsements of language rights in the United States, still to this day. And then most importantly it completely outlaws the sink or swim method, also known as submersion. Dr. Combs is very interesting to listen too and understand. This case took place in 1974 and was based off of the San Francisco immigrants who were English Language Learners and were unable to have assistance.  After this law passed, now it was required to provide assistance. Now there was the issue of identify the English language learns, and then to assess them, and then find a program for them. This is when schools and universities stepped in to help design appropriate assessments of these students. We also now had the issue of having trained teachers for these ELL programs. They decided to identify  kids based off of a 3 question survey known as the home language survey and it is still used today. They basically ask the parent what langue is the child's first langue or the child's language spoken at home. Each state is different and this is when is can be a little complicated, but usually all states have valid testing standards. It is good to know that this case did not mandate bilingual education, but it is up to the school as to if they want to use a bilingual education. This Lau case completely changed the way we look at students who are English language learners. 

• Bilingual Education is the next conversation we had with Dr. Marry Combs. She said it is hard to neutralize her tone of voice when it comes to the bilingual education. Even here in Arizona recently there have been many different policies happening in our local control, From the year 2000, it is basically a perfect example of what not to do with English language learners because it is not based on any theories and it also violates many civil rights. When things happen in California, they tend to happen in Arizona too. Prop 227 is also known as English for the Children passed in California. This prop was against bilingual education and this education was poorly understood by many of the voters and the prop was to stop bilingual education. This made a restriction for bilingual education. Then this also moved to Arizona. Structure language immersion became  a result of this proposition. In Arizona it was call prop 203. Dr. Combs said that she wished she could of explained what bilingual education really is. As of now in Arizona it is only acceptable to teach in English and teachers could even be fired if they teach in any language other than English. 

I basically summarized the conversations by Dr. Combs. Both of these conversations were extremely informative and will be useful for me to know about as a future educator. I am excited to finally feel like I have a better understanding of both the Lau v. Nichols case and also some information behind why some people do not like bilingual education. The truth is not many people know what bilingual education is.