SUPPLEMENTAL DECLARATION OF KENJI HAKUTA
(note: I am indebted to Diane August, Claude Goldenberg, Daria
Witt and Mike Broom for their help in preparing this declaration)
1. I am a professor of education at Stanford University. I have
previously filed a declaration in this case and a copy of my vita
is attached thereto.
2. I was chair of a committee at the National Research Council
(NRC), which is the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences,
the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering,
that examined
the research base on the education of limited-English proficient
children, referred to in the report as English-language learners.
The nine-member committee was appointed by the NRC to represent
knowledge from diverse disciplines. The NRC committee included
notable scholars in the areas of linguistics, psychology, sociology,
program evaluation, assessment, teacher education, and effective
schooling. Committee members, as is customary with National Academy
committees, also represented a diversity of perspectives regarding
the most effective means of educating language minority children.
To ensure that the report conformed to the highest standards of
scientific rigor in an area that has been very politicized, the
report was peer reviewed by nine outside experts prior to publication,
and the review process was overseen by an external monitor (also
appointed by NRC). Charles Glenn, in his deposition, identifies
himself as one of the nine reviewers. In their declarations for
the defendants, several experts refer to this report. These include
Porter (paragraphs 9 and 10), Rossell (footnote 8), Gersten (paragraph
21), and Glenn (paragraph 9).
3. In this declaration, I will make four points.
Point 1. Declarants' citations regarding the NRC report misrepresent
its main findings. They claim the NRC report indicates use of the
native language is an ineffective instructional strategy, whereas
in fact, the report finds this technique to be an effective approach.
Declarants espouse an extremely selective, narrow and limited view
of the education of language minority students which fails to address
access of students to academic content. They have focused on whether
native language use results in better or worse outcomes than some
form of English-only program, and within that, on evaluation studies
that define outcomes as English language and reading, and occasionally,
mathematics. They have not addressed the essential areas of subject
area knowledge and skills across the content areas (e.g., science,
social studies, etc.)
Point 2. I will address the question of whether there is a sound
theoretical basis on which structured English immersion programs
in California can be developed. I will examine declarants' claim
as it relates both to programs in other countries as well as in
the United States. My conclusion will be that there is no defensible
theory base to the programs prescribed by Proposition 227.
Point 3. I will examine the extent to which programs resembling
those proposed under Proposition 227 will be successful in ensuring
that LEP students learn English and attain high levels of subject
matter skills and knowledge. I will show that the outcomes for
students placed in programs similar to those proposed by Proposition
227 are alarmingly poor, hardly worthy of state-wide prescription,
and harmful to students.
Point 4. I will point to several major misrepresentations of
research in the declarations offered by the defendants.
Declaration relative to Point 1: Misrepresentation of the NRC
Report Findings.
4. On the question of effectiveness of programs that use the
native language to educate English language learners, the defendants
either misconstrue or fail to understand the NRC report's conclusions.
Indeed, the NRC report found evidence in favor of native language
use. It is inaccurate to characterize the report as inconclusive
on this point.
The committee focused its review on the major evaluation studies
conducted over the past 20 years including three large-scale national
evaluations of programs as well as five key reviews of smaller-scale
program evaluations.
5. The three large-scale national evaluations of programs for
English-language learners are: (1) the American Institutes for
Research evaluation of programs, referred to as the AIR study (Danoff,
1978); (2) the National Longitudinal Evaluation of the Effectiveness
of Services for Language Minority Limited English Proficient Students,
referred to as the Longitudinal Study (Development Associates,
1984; Burkheimer et al., 1989); and (3) the Longitudinal Study
of Immersion and Dual Language Instructional Programs for Language
Minority Children, referred to as the Immersion Study (Ramirez
et al., 1991). The committee also reviewed the report of a prior
National Research Council committee that thoroughly examined the
Longitudinal Study and the Immersion Study (Meyer and Fienberg,
1992).
6. Five key reviews of smaller-scale program evaluations include:
(1) Baker and de Kanter's (1981) review of 28 studies of programs
designed for English-language learners with evaluations considered
to be methodologically sound; (2) Rossell and Ross (1986) and (3)
Rossell and Baker's (1996) review of studies that evaluated alternative
second-language programs which had random assignment to programs
or statistical control for pretreatment differences between groups
when random assignment was not possible; (4) Willig's (1985) meta-analysis
of studies reviewed by Baker and de Kanter (in contrast with previous
reviews, her analysis quantitatively measured the program effect
in each study, even if it was not statistically significant); and
(5) the U.S. General Accounting Office's (1987) survey of 10 experts
in the field to gauge the effectiveness of bilingual education
programs (this methodology was quickly dismissed as unsound).
7. Based on the review of these evaluation studies the NRC committee
found evidence for the beneficial effects of native-language instruction.
The Committee made special note of the merits of Willig's meta-analysis.
Meta-analysis is a well-recognized statistical procedure that is
more robust and sophisticated than simple tallying of the numbers
of studies that support or do not support bilingual education,
which is the approach used by Baker and deKanter, and by Rossell
and Baker. Meta-analysis takes into account two key statistical
characteristics of the studies being summarized: the size of the
effect and its statistical robustness (which is mostly a function
of the size of the sample in the study, and the variability of
the individual scores within the sample). An overall test of statistical
significance is then performed summing across all studies.
8. Subsequent to the publication of the report, Dr. Jay Greene
of the University of Texas at Austin conducted a meta-analysis
using the studies reviewed by Rossell and Ross. After eliminating
studies that were invalid for inclusion by Rossell and Ross, he
found a statistically significant effect in favor of bilingual
education. He reports an average effect size of .21 standard deviation
units in English reading, and .11 standard deviation units in math,
measured in English. Overall, the results are statistically significant
for reading, but not significant (though approaching significance)
for math. The most likely reason why his analysis found effects
where Rossell and Ross did not is because meta-analysis is a more
finely tuned method of analysis. (It is like measuring the 100-meter
dash with a stopwatch instead of a sand clock. The sand clock is
only effective in detecting a difference if there are huge differences
among runners, or if a very large number of races are measured
and averaged.)
9. Dr. Greene notes, however, that 1/5 of a standard deviation
is small compared to the overall gap between LEP students and the
national average. This gap is typically about a full standard deviation
in size. Thus, one might say that use of the native language takes
care of 1/5 of the task of effectively educating LEP students.
This is consistent with the overall conclusion of the NRC report,
which states that many other things need to happen to effectively
educate these children: improving teachers and teaching, focusing
on academic content, putting accountability into place, and involving
parents.
10. The NRC report also found advantages of native language use
in its rigorous review of empirical studies of schools and classrooms
that were considered effective and exemplary. We identified and
reviewed the entire set of research studies on effective schooling
conducted over the past 20 years. The advantages of native-language
use are a prominent theme among these studies, either explicitly
(e.g., Henderson and Landesman, 1992; Hernandez, 1991; Muniz-Swicegood,
1994; Lucas et al., 1990; Berman et al., 1995; Rosebery et al.,
1992, Tikunoff, 1983; Pease-Alvarez et al., 1991; Calderon et al.,
1996) or implicitly (Carter and Chatfield, 1986, and Goldenberg
and Sullivan, 1994, both of which took place in school settings
where there was a firm commitment to bilingual education).
11. However, as previously noted, the studies point to many additional
individual, school and classroom factors that influence the achievement
of English language learners. The report carefully examined what
we know from cognitive science and developmental psychology about
an individual's development of language and especially cognition.
This is important because educating language minority children
should be not just about language acquisition, but also about learning
the academic curriculum. There are also many variables and dimensions
of schooling that influence LEP children’s (indeed, all children’s)
academic achievement, aside from language of instruction per se.
These factors include: a supportive but challenging school-wide
climate; effective school leadership; articulation of explicit
learning goals and outcomes for students; coordination of programs
and instruction within and between schools; effective explicit
skills instruction; opportunities for student-directed activities;
instructional strategies that enhance understanding; opportunities
for practice; systematic student assessment; staff development;
and home and parent involvement. Among the most important conclusions
of our report—which the defendants’ declarations completely ignore—is
that to be truly effective, programs for LEP students must be designed
with these principles in mind. It is my belief and that of the
NRC committee, based on our expertise and knowledge of the entirety
of the research on bilingual children and school programs and policies,
that the key to program improvement is not in finding a program
that works for all children and all localities, or finding a program
component (such as native language instruction) that works as some
sort of "magic bullet," but rather finding a set of program components
that works for the children in the community of interest, given
the goals, demographics, and resources of that community. Native
language instruction is one of the program components educators
must be free to use in constructing effective programs . By depriving
educators of this component, Prop. 227 summarily removes one of
many useful tools that can be used to improve learning outcomes
for these students. Prop. 227 represents a meat-cleaver approach
to a challenge that requires much greater subtlety, complexity,
and depth of understanding.
12. In sum, the NRC report finds that on average, bilingual education
programs are more effective than English-only programs. However,
there are many other important factors that influence student outcomes.
There is much more work left to do by the schools if we are to
enable LEP students to achieve at high academic levels. Improvement
would have to focus on teachers, teaching, academic content and
standards, accountability, school-wide leadership, program integration,
parent involvement—and effective use of the native language to
assure high level and meaningful learning for all students from
the time they enter school. Proposition 227 removes an important
tool -- use of the native language -- from the hands of educators.
It would only serve to make even more difficult the challenges
of school improvement.
Declaration relative to Point 2: The Theoretical Basis for Structured
English Immersion.
13. By theoretical basis, I mean the availability of data or
published reports that contain (1) a theory and accompanying objective
descriptions of the policies, practices and the populations served
by the program, and (2) outcomes of the program, such as English
language development, content area development, and redesignation
rate.
International Theory Base for Structured English Immersion.
14. Porter and Glenn in their declarations refer to examples
from other nations as providing a theoretical basis for Proposition
227. During the political debate, experiences from European nations
as well as Israel were frequently evoked. I will now examine the
claims made on these grounds. I am not an expert on international
comparisons in education, although I follow the literature with
great interest. I did, however, serve as an expert consultant on
an international team at the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) in 1988-1989 that looked at innovative practices
in educating immigrant students in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands,
Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, and the United States.
This was a case study approach and examined a broad range of practices.
Very few of these cases examined educational achievement due to
the unavailability of data, and the member nations were interested
in such innovations precisely because of the high failure rates
of immigrant students in their schools through traditional programs.
15. Charles Glenn argues that the program advocated by Proposition
227 is a "well-established approach, a sound educational practice,
which has been used for over 30 years by more than a dozen nations
with excellent educational systems, and by thousands of schools
in the United States" (paragraph 18). He bases his observation
on a book he co-authored with Ester de Jong Language Minority Children
in School: A Comparative Study of Twelve Nations, which I have
read in manuscript form. The book is a broad description of how
12 Western Europe and English-speaking nations have responded to
a tremendous increase in their immigration rate. A major question
of the study was to ask how each nation has developed its educational
system to provide equal educational opportunities to their diverse
immigrant student population. The nations are Australia, Belgium,
Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
16. Glenn declares that there is close similarity between the
types of programs in the 12 nations studied in his report and the
structured immersion program supported by Proposition 227. Although
some of the educational programs of the 12 nations do share some
characteristics of structured immersion programs, there are still
a number of significant differences between programs. Furthermore,
although all the nations offer both bilingual and immersion programs,
the extent to which each nation subscribes to a different program
varies. For example, Australia and Denmark place a greater emphasis
on bilingual education, whereas Belgium and Switzerland place a
greater emphasis on immersion programs. Probably the most considerable
difference between the two is that all 12 nations offer both bilingual
and immersion programs, whereas Proposition 227 only supports one
approach, structured immersion.
17. Glenn declares that there is a "norm for the schooling of
immigrant and other language-minority children in every country
except the United States" (paragraph 11) that consists of a one-year
period of intensive language instruction that could serve as a
theoretical basis for Proposition 227. Careful reading of his book
shows that this is a vast oversimplification and that Glenn is
much more of a balanced scholar than his statement would indicate.
In fact, it is clear from his book that each nation provides a
very different type of educational system for its immigrant student
population.
18. Among the 12 nations, there is also very little agreement
on how long immigrant students should remain in immersion or bilingual
programs before being mainstreamed into regular classes. Glenn
indicates that many of the nations have created goals of mainstreaming
immigrant students in immersion programs after three months to
three years. There is no discussion of the length of time immigrant
children remain in bilingual programs before being mainstreamed.
19. A seriously misleading assertion in Glenn's declaration is
that structured immersion programs have been proven effective.
In his report, he admits that there is "meager evidence--mostly
anecdotal--that exists for the effectiveness of each approach [meaning
both immersion and bilingual programs]. One study that he does
cite evaluating an immersion program actually shows high rates
of student failure. It examines what students in a one-year immersion
program are doing four years after they were mainstreamed: "After
four years, 32 percent of the group has continued their schooling
without retention in grade, 38 percent had repeated one year, 8
percent two years, and 21 percent had dropped out of school." 20.
In his declaration, Glenn only uses one reference to outcomes of
structured immersion programs (paragraph 15) and he seriously misrepresents
the point of the referenced material. He quotes E.D. Hirsch: "the
initial gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students, instead
of widening steadily as in the United States, decreases with each
school grade. By the end of seventh grade, the child of a North
African immigrant who has attended two years of French preschool
(école maternelle) will on average have narrowed the socially
induced learning gap." But this statement about the effectiveness
of the program is taken totally out of its context, in which Hirsch
is actually discussing how effective a strong core curriculum (such
as the one in France) is for both advantaged and disadvantaged
students. Thus, instead of supporting Proposition 227, as Glenn
intends, these results show the educational risks of Proposition
227, which ignores content curriculum and replaces it with language
instruction.
21. Porter in her declaration refers to Israel as another example
of a successful program resembling Proposition 227 (paragraph 12-13).
Israel offers three educational programs for incoming immigrant
students: a three month intensive second language program, a one
year intensive second language program (perhaps similar to Proposition
227), and placing students in mainstream classes with pull-out
classes in Hebrew. None of these approaches address academic content
material. A recent study by the Ministry of Education showed an
extremely high dropout rate among immigrants in the 1996-1997 school
year: "89.9 percent of non-immigrant 17-year old Jews were in school,
as opposed to 66.4 percent of immigrants in the same age group.
In other words, one-third of all 17 year-old immigrants were not
in school."
22. Glenn in his book notes that over the last few decades, all
of the nations have switched back and forth between using bilingual
and immersion programs due to poor student achievement. Germany,
for example, has changed the emphasis of its educational program
used to instruct immigrant students four times since 1964. Thus,
it is inappropriate to consider the numerous and varied educational
systems of the 12 nations Glenn studied as one "well-established
approach." It would be more appropriate to characterize each nation
as still searching for an educational approach to effectively instruct
its immigrant student population.
23. I conclude from my reading of Glenn's work, as well as of
my own readings in the broader research in this area and my experience
with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD), that research in other countries do not provide a sound
theoretical basis for Proposition 227. First, there is no well-established
immersion approach common to all countries. Second, these countries
have not developed successful means to educate their immigrant
children, who tend to drop out of school and fail to learn either
content or language. Third, the individual international studies
cited in support of structured immersion are misrepresented, and
actually show alarming failure rates.
U. S. Theory Base on Structured English Immersion.
24. Porter refers to several structured immersion programs as
extant examples of those envisioned by Proposition 227. However,
our review of these programs finds they are very different from
those that would be created by Proposition 227. They use some native
language and provide flexibility to local districts and schools
to design programs that meet their local needs. In those programs
where data is available, students remain for more than one year.
Most importantly, we know of no data from these programs that can
establish that academic content can be learned successfully through
a language a child does not know.
25. The other declaration claiming the research-based existence
of Structured English Immersion Programs is from Gersten. In paragraph
45, he writes: "Students can access the core curriculum in mainstream
classrooms while they are receiving supported instruction in English
using specialized techniques such as those described and validated
in the research of Elba Reyes and Candace Bos, Janette Klingner
and Sharon Vaughn, Anna Chamot and Michael O’Malley, William Saunders,
Valerie Anderson and Marsha Roit." These authors all contributed
to a special of issue of the Elementary School Journal, of which
he is the editor. However, with the exception of Saunders’ research,
these techniques have NOT been validated as means for permitting
students to "access the core curriculum in mainstream classrooms." Goldenberg,
writing in that same issue of the journal, reviewed all of the
research, and says in his commentary focusing on these very researchers’ studies:
"What is needed now is clear-cut evidence of effects for programs
and strategies suggested by these authors. This same need exists
for related approaches currently receiving widespread attention.
For example, advocates of "sheltered English," sometimes called "specially
designed academic instruction in English (SDAIE)," say this set
of techniques . . .can be used to teach intermediate or advanced
LEP students challenging content in English . . . As compelling
as many of these recommended practices are, there are still many
questions about implementation . . and effects. . . . Although
all the articles can claim substantial theoretical and/or practical
foundation, there is still a significant need for assessment and
evaluation data." (p. 369)
26. Of the studies mentioned by Gersten, the study which has
been validated in terms of measured student outcomes is Saunders.
However, this research has been conducted in the Los Angeles USD
and in schools with strong commitments to primary language instruction.
Saunders’ work shows that given the academic and literacy foundation
provided by reasonable primary language instruction in the first
years of schooling, students can be helped to make a more successful
transition to literacy and academic study in English
27. In paragraph 20, Gersten declares that Ramirez found no difference
between immersion and bilingual education models. That is not true.
Ramirez found an effect in favor of Early Exit Bilingual over Immersion,
a finding that was validated by the Fienberg and Meyer report from
the National Research Council.
28. In paragraph 35, Gersten declares that Greene’s analysis
found no differences between bilingual programs and English-only
programs. That is contrary to Greene’s report. (See declaration
of Jay Greene.)
Declaration Relative to Point 2: The Time on Task Theory
-
Both Rossell (paragraph 38-39) and Porter (paragraph 20)
use "time-on-task" theory to support structured English immersion,
and to question the effectiveness of bilingual education.
Time-on-task is
a theory that is based on a straightforward input-output
model. It says that there is a direct and causal relationship
between the amount of time spent on input (instruction and
learning) and the level of output accomplished (knowledge
and skills accrued). Time-on-task is a theory that comes
from the brain and behavioral sciences, especially the fields
of animal behavior, experimental psychology, and cognitive
science/artificial intelligence. My academic training and
most of my early research have been in the areas of experimental
psychology and cognitive and language development, and so
I am familiar with various versions of time-on-task theory.
Porter characterizes time-on-task as "the more time spent
learning a subject, the better that subject will be learned." Rossell
characterizes it as: "whatever advantage one gains from having
the core curriculum explained in your so-called ‘primary’ language
is offset by the reduced instructional time that of necessity
must come about because of the need to squeeze Spanish language
arts into a fixed day." The time-on-task model that Rossell
and Porter describe is based on the traditional learning
theories of John Watson and B. F. Skinner developed in the
1940s and 1950s. This can usually be described through linear
models, such as the familiar equation from high school algebra,
y=mx + b, where m is the slope, b is the zero-intervept,
x is the input, and y is the output. This traditional model
of learning is no longer accepted by learning scientists
because it does not work. Currently viable models of learning
are cognitive theory, which predicts a non-linear, metamorphosis-like
type of development (such as the stages of development of
a butterfly), and brain-maturational theory, which predicts
innate knowledge and essentially says that minimal input
is necessary to accomplish the output. There are many variations
of each of these theories, but I need not trouble the court
with these. My point is that no serious cognitive or brain
behavioral scientist since the late 1970s has subscribed
to traditional learning theory. There is simply too much
evidence against it. Steven Pinker, the widely-respected
Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at MIT
and a leading proponent of the brain-maturational theory,
has written two entire books that lay learning theory to
rest. The only debate remaining is between various versions
of cognitive theory and brain-maturational theory. The question
of learning is not how much, but when and in what sequence
-
Porter, in the same paragraph in which she describes time-on-task
theory, also describes the "critical age hypothesis" that "the
optimal time to learn a second language is between age three
and five or as
soon thereafter as possible, and certainly before the onset of
puberty". This is curious, because this hypothesis is founded on
a central claim that time-on-task is not important! The critical
period hypothesis, which comes from ethology and the brain sciences,
says three things about learning: (1) exposure has to happen within
a given time (often said to be before puberty for a second language),
(2) within that critical age period, even a short amount of exposure
is sufficient, and (3) outside of that critical period, even a
large amount of exposure is not sufficient. They key evidence over
which researchers in the field have been fussing is the finding
that if learning happens within a critical period, the amount of
exposure is irrelevant. Currently, there is vigorous debate over
whether this applies to second language acquisition. Clearly, Porter
is confused about the fundamental relationship between theory and
data about critical periods as they apply to second language acquisition.
If she simply means "the earlier the better," that is at least
a debatable issue, but that has nothing to do with a critical period.
The earlier one is exposed to English, the better; but the earlier
one is exposed to any school subject matter, it is better as well.
31. In any event, the time-on-task theory has serious limitations;
indeed, both Drs. Rossell and Baker concede that time spent exclusively
in English for non-English speakers appears to be counter-productive
to learning English. (Rossell & Baker, "The Emperor Has No
Clothes," at 61; "Baker, Ramirez, et al.: Misled By Bad Theory" at
64.)
Declaration Relative to Point 3. The Probable Outcomes of Proposition
227 on Student Learning.
32. Porter declares on in paragraph 22 that "learning subject
matter content in a second language can begin to occur in a matter
of weeks, starting with the subjects that can be partially understood
through symbols (mathematics), active experiments and demonstrations
(science), and progressing to the social science". This is correct
only in the most trivial sense, but utterly fails in meeting even
the most watered down interpretation of academic standards.
33. I will offer a specific example from the Idea Proficiency
Test (IPT), a commonly used test of English language proficiency,
which assesses students in the areas of vocabulary, oral comprehension,
grammar, and oral production. Performance on the IPT is divided
into 6 levels (A through F). Based on the test level summary provided
by the publishers of the test, the following characterizations
can be made of performance at the different levels:
Level A: essentially cannot perform at any level.
Level B: a student can 1) tell his name and age; 2) identify
family and common school personnel, classroom objects, basic body
parts, common pets, and fruits; 3) use present tense verb "to be",
4) use regular plurals; 5) answer simple "yes/no" questions appropriately;
6) follow simple directions involving basic positions in space.
Level C: a student can 1) identify common occupations, clothing,
farm animals, and foods; 2) express himself or herself using the
present progressive tense (he or she is working) of common verbs;
3) use negatives and subject pronouns correctly; 4) use mass nouns
(some glue, not a glue) appropriately; 5) follow the teacher’s
directions related to identifying positions on a page; 6) repeat
simple sentences correctly; and 7) comprehend and remember major
facts of a simple story.
Level D: a student can 1) identify modes of transportation and
household items; 2) name the days of the week; 3) describe common
weather conditions; 4) use possessive pronouns correctly; 5) ask
simple future tense questions, and so forth.
A full text of the summary sheet provided by the publisher is
appended in Exhibit A.
33. One can reasonably ask two questions: (1) how quickly do
student progress through these levels of English acquisition? and
(2) what is a reasonable level of English at which one can assume
that meaningful learning of the academic curriculum is taking place?
I pursue these two questions below.
34. On the issue of expectations about the progress of students
through levels of English acquisition, I published a paper in 1974
("A preliminary report on the development of grammatical morphemes
in a Japanese child learning English as a second language." Working
Papers in Bilingualism, 3, 18-38. Reprinted in E. Hatch (Ed.).
Studies in Second Language Acquisition. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury
House Publishers, 1979), which is one of the foundational studies
in the field of second language acquisition, which serves as the
theoretical base upon which tests such as the IPT, the Bilingual
Syntax Measure, and the Language Assessment Scales were developed.
In that paper, I reported on a case study of the daughter of a
Japanese visiting scholar family at Harvard who enrolled in kindergarten,
and received what would today be considered pull-out ESL support.
Despite her privileged background, parents who were proficient
in English, and being in a school where she was just one of few
English language learners, she went through a silent period of
at least 5 months. She then began her journey towards full English
production in April, at which point I began intensive tape recordings
of her language. However, even this child took 2 years before she
had a strong command of critical aspects of language, such as number,
tense, conditionals, and complex sentences. Based on my knowledge
of the literature on second language acquisition, many longitudinal
studies which have been conducted based on a similar paradigm such
as mine, I conclude that for the vast majority of children, grammatical
control of English as a second language takes considerably longer
than one year, even under ideal circumstances. I know of no longitudinal
case study in which grammatical control is established in a period
shorter than one year.
35. There is also strong evidence based on cross-sectional studies
that basic English language acquisition takes three to five years
on average. One graphic example comes from Canada, based on a study
of 1,200 immigrant students in the Toronto Board of Education.
These students were not in bilingual education programs, and in
English-only programs, and were given a picture vocabulary test
and a test of English grammar (Wright, E. & Ramsey, C. A.,
1970, ‘Students of non-Canadian origin: Age on arrival, academic
achievement and ability’. Research Report #88, Toronto Board of
Education). I have replotted their data separately for 5th,
7th, and 9th graders, as a function of their
length of residence in Canada. This is shown in Exhibit B. The
developmental curves (expressed in English deficit from native
English comparisons) rise until 5 years of exposure, at which point
they flatten out. These conclusions are strongly supported in a
number of other studies, including a recent study by Harold Klesmer
(‘E.S.L. Achievement Project: Development of English as a Second
Language Achievement Criteria as a Function of Age and Length of
Residence in Canada.’ North York Board of Education, September,
1993) of a randomly selected sample of 285 ESL students and 43
control native English students who were 12 years old. Using an
impressive array of standardized tests of language proficiency,
he showed developmental curves that tell a similar story.
36. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, one can look to sources
of data closest to the students to be impacted by Proposition 227
in order to understand the likely harm these students will experience.
Defendants offer a declaration from the Westminster School District
in Orange County, which provides a program supposedly similar to
Proposition 227. In their declaration, the Superintendent for the
district, Dr. Barbara DeHart, reports in Paragraph 13(c) that "Students
with IPT scores in levels A-E increased by an average 1.1 IPT level." Presumably
this means the average student increased one language level (of
6 in total, A-F) per school year. We have obtained from the State
Department of Education data supplied by the school district on
the English language development of LEP students in that district,
showing the distribution of IPT levels of the students, and the
percentage of students at each level who developed 1 or more levels:
ELD Level (IPT)
Pretest
|
Number of
Students
|
Number
Progressed > or = 1
Level
|
% Progress > or = 1
Level
|
A
|
329
|
261
|
79%
|
B
|
386
|
280
|
73%
|
C
|
206
|
161
|
78%
|
D
|
156
|
122
|
78%
|
E
|
120
|
88
|
73%
|
F
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Total
|
1197
|
912
|
76%
|
37. Several things are noteworthy about Westminster’s data, particularly
the use of it to show that the district’s all-English "program
is successful in overcoming language barriers" (Westminster declaration;
para. 13).
38. The average LEP student in Westminster gains slightly more
than one (1.1) language level per year of instruction. This means
that if a student begins school in first grade at language level
A (i.e., a non-English speaker unable to function in English at
any level), she or he will require nearly 3 years to be at level
D, which IPT test developers (IPT 1 Oral, Grades K-6, English forms
C & D) designate as "limited English speaking," and an additional
2 years to become a fluent English speaker. Even on the face of
it, Westminster’s data appear to support the proposition that achieving
English fluency requires approximately 5 years: A non-English speaker
entering 1st grade will become "limited English proficient" in
late 3rd/early 4th grade and will not become
a fluent English speaker until around the end of 5th grade.
39. However, we suspect the story in Westminster is more complex
than this. Inspection of the above table reveals that nearly 60%
of the LEPs who progressed one or more language levels were functioning
at the very lowest levels of English proficiency. Only a minority
(23%) moved into the highest levels (E & F). The district superintendent’s
claim that on average LEP students progress 1.1 language levels
needs therefore to be interpreted in light of the fact that a disproportionate
amount of that progress takes place at the lowest levels of English
proficiency. Relatively few students are functioning or moving
into the highest levels of English language proficiency. This of
course helps explains the approximately 5% per year LEP to FEP
redesignation rate in Westminster, which is no different from the
statewide figure opponents of bilingual education use to argue
that bilingual education has failed.
40. The implications of this pattern and timing of language development
(in a district, we would emphasize, that claims already to be using "structured
immersion"; para. 6), and how 227 would at a minimum delay LEP
children’s learning in the academic domains, becomes evident if
we look carefully at California content standards in a given subject.
For illustrative purposes, we will use California’s science standards
(CA Dept. of Education, 1990). Contrary to Porter’s specious declaration
that subject matter learning in areas such as science can begin
within weeks of second language learning, science learning as outlined
by the state framework presupposes a high level of functional English
proficiency. The English language levels required for meaningful
conceptual learning to take place are far higher than the defendants
admit or that this Proposition would permit LEP students to attain
before subjecting them to what in essence remains a sink or swim
instructional environment.
41. The California Science Framework presents a high-level and
rigorous vision for science education. Among the many concepts
outlined as central to its study and understanding are hypothesis,
law, theory, fact, technology, energy, evolution, scale and structure,
stability, and systems and interactions. Although the framework
advocates the use of various teaching strategies, such as demonstrations
and experiments, it also encourages teachers to engage students
in learning activities that require high levels of language proficiency.
For example: In developing science concepts, a teacher should:
(1) pose questions to determine what ideas students hold about
a topic before beginning instruction; (2) be sensitive to and capitalize
on students’ conceptions about science; (3) employ a variety of
instructional techniques to help students achieve conceptual understanding;
and (4) include all students in discussions and cooperative learning
situations (CA Dept. of Education, 1990, p. 3)
42. Even a cursory reading of the framework reveals how language-dependent
science instruction is and, accordingly, how disadvantaged LEP
students will be in a science program that conforms to the standards
of the state’s framework. We return to our hypothetical Westminster
student, who progresses slightly more than one language level per
year. The table below correlates the student’s grade, likely IPT-determined
language level at that grade, examples of oral language skills
at that level, and excerpts from the California Science Framework
outlining standards for conceptual understanding in science at
early (K- 3rd) and late (3rd-6th) elementary school. It is crucial
to note that although a skilled teacher could produce demonstrations
and concrete experiences that would help students learn some of
the vocabulary and perhaps even the concepts at a superficial level,
it is extremely difficult to see how students at language levels
A-E, and especially at the lowest 3 levels of English proficiency,
could meaningfully be expected to learn the content outlined in
the framework and do so in a language they understand tenuously.
If LEP students are already familiar with the subject matter content
outlined in the last column, they can certainly learn aspects of
the corresponding English vocabulary and how to talk about the
concepts in English; perhaps this is what Dr. Porter means. But
it is impossible to see how students can simultaneously learn these
very challenging concepts presented in a language for which they
have limited understanding.
43. The unreasonable difficulties presented to LEP students,
depicted in the table below, are further compounded when we consider
that the Westminster data include only students in grades 2 through
7. In other words, the large numbers of students at the lowest
levels of language proficiency are not first graders—they are at
least in 2nd grade. The challenges these students face
are even more severe than the table above depicts.
/ / /
/ / /
/ / /
/ / /
/ / /
/ / /
/ / /
/ / /
/ / /
Grade
|
Probable IPT level
|
Sample oral language skills at this level
|
Excerpts from Science framework
|
Sample Content and Performance Standards
|
1
|
A
(non English speaking)
|
Fewer than half the skills in level "B"
|
(Kindergarten through grade 3):
"Forms of energy can be classified in several ways, depending on our purposes.
Energy is manifested when we drop a ball, strike a match, make waves in a bathtub,
clap our hands or rub them briskly together, or turn on a flashlight. Each form
of energy has its own characteristics. For example, a given material will transmit
some forms of energy and absorb or reflect others. A sheet of thick paper transmits
sound but not light. A stretched sheet of plastic wrap transmits light but not
water waves. . . . Energy is required when work is done on a system or when matter
changes its form."
|
(Kindergarten through grade 2):
Students identify forms of energy that are observable as light, heat,
sound, and motion.
Examples of types of work students should be able to do:
- Observe and describe the differences between striking
a cup or not striking a cup when it is placed against the
ear
- Observe and describe how the light from a flashlight
is affected by placing a piece of black construction paper
or some clear object over it
- Using a solar oven, students will identify froms of energy
involved in cooking and will describe these forms using
pictures and words.
|
2
|
B
(non English speaking)
|
Tell name and age; identify family and common school personnel, classroom
objects, basic body parts, common pets; use present tense verb "to
be"; use regular plurals; answer simple "yes/no" questions; follow
simple directions involving basic positions in space.
|
3
|
C
(non English speaking)
(D toward end of grade 3)
|
Identify common occupations, clothing, farm animals, foods; express
self using the present progressive tense (he or she is working);
use negatives and subject pronouns; use mass nouns (some glue, not
a glue); follow directions related to identifying positions on a
page; repeat simple sentences; comprehend, remember major facts of
a simple story
|
4
|
D
(limited English speaking)
|
Identify modes of transportation and household items; name the days
of the week; describe common weather conditions; use possessive pronouns;
ask simple future tense questions; understand, express comparative
and quantitative concepts; repeat complex sentences; express creative
thoughts in complete sentences
|
(Grades 3 through 6):
"Energy passes through ecosystems in food chains mainly in the form of the chemical
energy supplied to each organism by the nourishment it consumes. All organisms
convert some of this energy into heat. Animals also convert some of it into mechanical
energy. Green plants convert light energy into chemical energy by means of the
photochemical process called photosyntesis."
|
(Grades 3 through 5):
Students demonstrate an understanding that energy can flow into and
out of a system causing measurable changes.
Examples of types of work students should be able to do:
- Describe and compare input and output with various forms
of energy used at recess or in the cafeteria during lunch.
- Compare the effects of various amounts of light on plants
grown in sunlight, in artificial light, and in the dark.
- Students will observe how a meal is processed through
the digestive system .... They will trace the flow of energy
from the sun to the various food and packaging components,
through the human body systems.... Students will produce
a multimedia product that incorporates both visual and
written forms of communication to present their results.
|
5
|
E
(limited English speaking)
(F toward end of grade 5)
|
Identify content area vocabulary; use superlatives and past tense;
understand and name opposites; ask past tense questions; discriminate
differences in closely paired words; describe and organize the main
properties of common objects
|
6
|
F
(fluent English speaking)
|
Use conditional tense verbs; discriminate fine differences in closely
paired words; comprehend and predict the outcome of a story; recall
and retell the main facts of a story; share meaningful personal experiences
|
Declaration Relative to Point 4: Major Misrepresentations of
Research in Declarations
44. There is much to critique about the use of research by the
defendants. However, several are egregious and cannot escape mention
as examples of the defendants’ eagerness to bend the truth. Porter
makes use of an evaluation study conducted by the New York City
Board of Education in 1994 that compared students in bilingual
education programs with those in ESL programs, to support her claim
that there is an abundance of evidence that native language instruction
programs ... have produced disappointing results most of the time" (paragraph
11). The findings of this study was described in an article by
Barbara Mujica in the Fall, 1995 issue of READ Perspectives, a
journal edited by Porter. The New York City study, and Mujica’s
writeup of it, was described in the following way by my NRC committee: "Recently,
extensive publicity has been given to an evaluation of the New
York City bilingual program (Board of Education of the City of
New York, 1994). That study compared the exit rates (how long children
stayed in the program) and achievement of students in ESL and bilnigual
programs. The comparisons made between the two programs were seriously
confounded with native language: most of the students in the bilingual
program had Spanish as a native language, while the students in
ESL had other language backgrounds. Ironically, the New York City
study carefully documented the native-language confound, but made
no attempt to control for this variable or for other confounds
(e.g., socioeconomic status). In the preface, the authors describe
the results of the study as ‘preliminary’ and ‘ongoing.’ Yet advocates
and the media accepted the conclusions of the report. The New York
City evaluation has been heralded by advocates as providing ‘hard
evidence’ (Mujica, 1995) because it makes bilingual education look
ineffective. Again study quality is ignored if the results support
the advocate’s position" (NRC report, p. 149).
45. Dr. Porter concludes her declaration by quoting from a study
by Lopez and Mora, whose paper is attached in Appendix II from
Governor Pete Wilson. She declares that: "Beyond high school graduation,
the quality of schooling provided to English language learners
has a profound effect on each student’s ability to pursue higher
education, meaningful work, and the responsibilities of citizenship".
She quotes from them: "we find that first and (to a lesser extent)
second generation Hispanics who attended a bilingual education
program earn significantly less than their otherwise similar English-immersed
peers who received monolingual English instruction".
46. Even a cursory inspection of the study results shows that
this conclusion is not supported by the data at all. Indeed, the
most reasonable conclusions to draw from them would support the
plaintiff's argument, rather then Porter’s. They find no statistically
significant difference between the incomes of all Hispanics in
their sample, whether they received bilingual education, English
as a second language, or no special instruction (See Table 3, column
1). Statistically significant differences are only found when the
analysis is done separately for first, second, third, and fourth
generation Americans. It is not clear why one would want to perform
these analyses separately. But even if we were to accept their
analysis at face value, when one compares ESL to bilingual education,
the only statistically significant difference between the two favors
the effects of bilingual education on long-term income over ESL,
for just the third generation. In other words, if ESL in this study
is meant to be equivalent to the sheltered immersion proposed by
Proposition 227, this study suggests that sheltered immersion will
have a significant negative effect on the long-term income of at
least some of the students compared to the effect of bilingual
education.
47. But there are also good reasons to doubt the validity of
all of these findings. The fact that students are not randomly
assigned to the different programs means that it is essential to
control for the initial differences in the students who are likely
to be assigned to one program or another. Students with lower initial
Englsih ability may be more likely to be assigned to bilingual
education than to ESL or no program and those students may also
possess a host of other educational disadvantages having to do
with social class and family background. Because Lopez and Mora
do not have a measure of initial English ability and have only
limited measures of social class, they are failing to control fully
for the disadvantages likely possessed by the bilingual students.
Failing to control for those disadvantages fully means that their
lower incomes after many years may well be caused by the uncontrolled
disadvantages and not by the bilingual program to which they were
assigned. It is plausible that the incomes of the bilingual students
might have been even lower had they not received the claimed benefit
of bilingual education.
48. The bias in their analyses caused by failing to control fully
for the disadvantages associated with students who are more likely
to be assigned to bilingual programs is more than theoretically
possible; the fact that the combined analysis shows no significant
differences while the analyses separating generations do show differences
suggests that these results are largely artifacts of inadequate
controls. The fact that the estimate for program effects varies
across generations, even when they control for as many demographic
variables as are available, suggests that there are powerful demographic
factors that differentiate the populations in each generation for
which they have no controls. Those same uncontrolled, powerful
demographic factors are also likely to vary across students who
are assigned to bilingual, ESL, and submersion programs. The fact
that separating out the generations changes the results so dramatically
is essentially an admission that they are not controlling for very
important background characteristics.
49. Dr. Rossell presents an analysis of cumulative redesignation
rates based on yearly data from the California State Department
of Education, in Table 2 (paragraph 53). This table allegedly shows
very low reclassification rates, with an expectation of only 42
percent of a cohort of LEP students entering kindergarten in 1991.
This is sheer conjecture based on data that fails to take into
account a number of factors, including the entry of new students
into the schools and high student mobility. State data do not enable
individual students to be tracked over time to determine redesignation
rates. The data she reports are not "cumulative" in any sense other
than that of an arithmetic exercise in adding up the percentages
for each year. This is supported by looking at the distribution
of students who are exited after certain numbers of years: the
percentages of students who are exited after 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or
6 years remains more or less the same. This is not consistent with
what we know about language acquisition, and certainly defies my
experience with exit rates of students followed over long periods
of time. This is easiest to show graphically, in Exhibit D. In
the exhibit, I compare Rossell’s conjecture based on state data
against actual data obtained from the San Francisco Unified School
District for 1996-7, which reports the percentage of students who
were redesignated after 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and more years. To make
the data comparable, the figure only looks at students who exited
in 6 or fewer years, and then plots the cumulative percentage of
those students who exited after 1 year, 1 or 2 years, 1, 2, or
3 years, etc. Rossell’s estimates are represented by the dotted
line; SFUSD’s actual data are represented by the solid line. Clearly,
her estimates resemble nothing like the real progression of students
towardsredesignation as shown in San Francisco, in which a relatively
small proportion of the students are redesignated in 1, 2, or 3
years, and then the pace picks up rapidly between 3 and 6 years.
Rossell’s Table 2, therefore, tells us nothing about cumulative
percentage of the redesignation of students across the years.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State
of California that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed this ____ day of June, 1998, at ____________________,
California.
____________________________
Dr. Kenji Hakuta
|