Studies show that California's English immersion programs are working. In conducting a study for the Santa Cruz Sentinel , reporter Jondi Gumz analyzed test scores and interviewed teachers in school districts with significantly different approaches to Proposition 227. In districts that failed to improve, Gumz found teacher union efforts to undermine the English immersion initiative along with low morale among bilingual teachers. A San Jose Mercury News study, for example, found that 2nd graders learning English in mainstream classrooms averaged at the 35th national percentile on the Stanford 9 test, while bilingual learners averaged in the 20th percentile. A third study by the READ Institute yielded similar results.
Survey shows colleges are accepting more homeschooled students.
Many others were in the process of adjusting their policies. Homeschool-friendly colleges typically require parent transcripts, standardized achievement test results and student portfolios in lieu of high school diplomas. Not Parents Parents' Rights on the Move . . .