Bilingual Education

The History of Bilingual Education in Hartford

Bilingual education allows a student with limited knowledge in English to receive their education in both languages.  All study areas are taught in the native language first and English is taught as a second language.  After the student reaches an adequate level of English, classes are then taught in this language.

Due to the continued increase in the Hispanic population through the twentieth century, especially Puerto Ricans, there was a need for them to be represented and included.  In 1971 teachers from Puerto Rico were recruited for the Teachers Corps program to create bilingual education system.  In 1974 congress passed the Equal Education Opportunities Act EEOA which required that schools take appropriate actions to overcome the linguistic obstacles of the students that did not speak English.  Later in the same year in the Lau v. Nicholas case, the Supreme Court decided that school districts needed to provide programs to cover all educational needs.  Still, there were never mechanisms established to verify that this requisite was fulfilled, and bilingual education initiatives in Hartford have achieved mixed results.

STRATEGIC SCHOOL PROFILE 2005-06

Hartford School District

ROBERT HENRY, Superintendent

Telephone: (860) 695-8401

% of K-12 Students with Non-English Home

Language Year District DRG? State

2005-06 46.8 33.7 12.6

2000-01 56.4 N/A 12.5

student enrollment Hartford Number Percent

Hispanic 11,579 52.2

Website where you can see stats from any school in Harftord: http://www.csde.state.ct.us/public/der/ssp/SCH0506/dist041.htm

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