But at schools such as Irving or Cloud Elementary, where there's a heavy Hispanic student population, bilingual education is more feasible. Most of those programs are English-based, Lugrand said. She said only about 3,000 of the district's 47,000 students are on the dual-English program. Even though those students are taught in Spanish, she said, the ultimate goal is for them to become fluent in English. California's new law mandates that with few exceptions, all students be taught English in English.
Supporters say immersion is the best way to bring students up to speed in English.
Sen. Lawrence said she has seen immersion first-hand, while teaching in American schools in Germany in the late 1950s. Much better than the adults. But a George Mason University study says such proficiency is limited. While oral comprehension is high for students through the second grade, the study showed academic performance starts to drop off by the fourth grade, when reading and written comprehension become more important. The same study also reported a steady increase in performance for children who were kept in bilingual programs, eventually surpassing the average performance of native-English speakers.