Spanish Academic Language Proficiency: The Case of Bilingual Education Teachers in the US

Empirical evidence has been forthcoming that supports the sustained use of native language instruction for Spanish language origin children in the US. This paper argues that prospective bilingual education teachers are not generally afforded the type of Spanish language development opportunities needed to provide sustained native language instruction characterizing the most effective program models. Rather, the academic Spanish language development opportunities they do receive are aimed primarily at serving the needs of early-exit transitional bilingual education programs, the most common and least effective type of bilingual program in the US.