“English for the Children”: The New Literacy of the Old World Order, Language Policy and Educational Reform

Abstract Proposition 227 is perhaps the single most important language policy decision of this last century—one that may have profound consequences on schooling in the 21st century. Documenting the ways school districts, the local schools, teachers, and parents make sense of this new policy is central to understanding its short- and long-term effects on the education of English language learners (ELLs). Using qualitative approaches to inquiry, we have studied how three different school districts in Southern California interpreted and implemented the new law. A second concurrent strand of research examined how teachers interpreted and implemented the new law in classroom practice. Three case study classrooms were observed across the first academic year implementing Proposition 227: (a) one English immersion classroom, (b) one alternative bilingual classroom, and (c) one structured immersion classroom. Participant observation and interview methods were used to capture the evolution of classroom practices, literacy practices in particular.