Vindicated

This book focuses on how to best educate Hispanic English-limited students who tend to be the ethnic group most likely to be taught in their native language and, consequently, to do poorly when compared to all immigrant children limited in English. It provides evidence that the Hispanic students have made impressive gains where states passed anti-bilingual education laws. It compares that success to the students’ failure in New York and Colorado where bilingual education still prevails.

Johanna Haver's book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in understanding the politics of the bilingual-education wars in the U.S. over the last several decades.  Haver lays out the results of the different policies pursued in states: the abysmally low reclassification rates to English fluency in states and school districts that have stuck to bilingual education versus the improved rates in jurisdictions that adopted structured-English-immersion models.  A must-read., Johanna J. Haver’s book Vindicated makes a compelling case that the citizens initiatives, replacing bilingual education with immersion techniques in California in 1998, Arizona in 2000, and Massachusetts in 2002, have resulted in excellent outcomes – especially when compared to the Hispanic English learners’ results in New York City and Colorado where similar initiatives were attempted but failed. Yet, as Haver warns, the national trend is again favoring bilingual education and all the federal dollars that go with it. This is a must-read for anyone who cares whether Hispanic kids ever learn to speak English., As the state administrator who was responsible for developing structured English immersion (SEI) training sessions for teachers and administrators, I am glad to see the evidence of the SEI models’ success as presented in Vindicated. Following my work at the Arizona Department of Education, I returned to the classroom to work again with English language learners (ELLs). I observed the effectiveness of the SEI models in action in that my ELL students became eligible for mainstream instruction at a high rate. Most important, their knowledge of grammar has provided them with a tool for their future learning of English and the ability to compete with their non-ELL peers while moving up the educational ladder., I am so grateful to Johanna Haver for documenting the progress of English for the Children and for her own work in support of English language learners. Never again should we permit the segregation of Hispanic children in our public schools, whether for bilingual education or for any other pretext., Johanna J. Haver’s book Vindicated demonstrates in full detail why delaying English acquisition harms the very children the system is supposed to help.

Johanna J. Haver is the author of the books Structured English Immersion and English for the children. Presently, she holds the office of Maricopa County Community College District Board Secretary.