ABA Focus Vol. Let's turn now to a domestic policy issue that is closely related to immigration.
Bilingual education is a controversial public policy.
Until the late 1960s, bilingual education was not of great concern to policy makers. Interestingly, though, the issues were framed as civil rights and pedagogical problems, rather than as an immigration-related concern. Bilingual education policy has been dogged by both ideological and pedagogical conflicts. Proponents of bilingual programs insist that they facilitate acquisition of English and that English-immersion programs are exclusionary. Meanwhile, researchers debate the efficacy of different approaches.