Summary

There is no question that test scores went up in California, but dropping bilingual education had nothing to do with the increase. Test score increases in California appear to be a result of the usual "test score inflation" that occurs when new tests are introduced. In California, inflation has been particularly strong because of intense pressure to raise scores.

Test scores for everyone went up in California. There were no clear differences in gains between districts that kept bilingual education and those that dropped or reduced their bilingual programs.

Missing from nearly all discussions of the effectiveness of bilingual education is the consistent finding that controlled studies show that bilingual education works. The Skyrocket Urban Legend is false.

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