Some important links
Department of Education Information and Data Overview. This site provides you with a database of New York City’s Department of Education giving you a snapshot of the demographics in the system and some evaluative information including quality reports on the schools, students, and teachers.
Demographics Snapshot 2017-2018 This is a demographics report taken directly from the Data Overview website above.
Department of Education English Language Learners Division. This site leads to specifically to the division that handles all the ELL students in the DOE. You will find the descriptions of the programs available to ELL students in the public school system.
Anticipated Bilingual Education Programs. This website contains information on bilingual education programs available for schools in the school system. If you are curious as to what kind of program is available for your school, use this website.
Your task
In this research paper, respond to the prompt below:
Analyze the DOE report and the models of bilingual education available to public schools in New York City. Based on your analysis, choose a school in New York City of your choice and recommend a type of bilingual education best suited for the school to support the students who report being bilingual. If your chosen school already has a bilingual education in place, discuss whether or not it is the best program for that school. Why or why not?
Suggestions on structuring your paper
1. Briefly review the background of bilingual education and what kinds available in the New York City public school system. You should provide: (1) a definition of bilingual education explaining how it differs from language education and (2) the explanation of the three orientations towards other languages (language as a problem, as a right, and as a resource). (3) How these language orientations give way to different models of bilingual education.
2. Analyze the some of the data provided for you at the DOE’s website and identify the diverse populations and their languages in the NYC public schools. Provide a brief synthesis of the numerical information in the report.
3. Using one school of your choice, discuss how the school fit in the demographics in terms of the location of the school and the population, language spoken, socio-economic status, and so on.
3. State the problem that the NYC public schools face. Explain the ethical consequences of not addressing the need for equitable instruction in both the home language and English for 40+% of students in NYC public schools. What are the implications?
4. If a bilingual education program is available in your chosen school, discuss the effectiveness of the program in terms of the demographics it is serving in that school. If a bilingual education is not available, propose one that offers the best fit for the students in your chosen school. Select a program that you think is the most appropriate for the NYC context, considering the report you have studied. Describe the program in detail: How are the languages taught? How much time is spent on each language? What is the balance among the languages? Who are the students? How are they selected? Be as descriptive as you can. Justify your choice by showcasing what you know about the program’s effectiveness and second language acquisition in general.
5. Conclude this paper with a summary of your recommendation to the Department of Education. Explain how the model you propose will match the need to enhance the opportunities of urban students to achieve the language proficiency and cultural competence required for success in the modern global marketplace. You should have at least 5 references in your paper. This paper should be 5-6 pages long.
Your role and audience: Effective writers are able to place themselves into their reader’s mind and anticipate possible questions. In writing this essay, imagine that you are writing to someone who knows less about this topic than you and who, for example, is not aware of the press reports on the most recent developments in neuroscience. Therefore, give your reader necessary context or background information throughout the essay to help him/her follow your discussion.