The DisclaimerWell, as with all things "educationese", there are very few things educators completely agree upon completely, so it helps to be a united front when non-educator forces wage war (like Ron Unz did in California in 1998).
From the Wake of Prop 227 to today...And so, in what became law in the wake of Proposition 227, the educational community decided to fight back in the way that many other groups in the past have done-- appropriate a term that had negative (or heretofore confusing) connotations and use it to give language programs across the state a needed "reboot". Of course, as always, with our local control policies, results (and success) has varied from LEA to LEA-- that's Local Educational Agency :)
So what was Prop 227 supposed to do?
Bring a program that was to be the default with the only defined feature defined in the law as being "overwhelmingly in English". Yeah, not much to go on. However, the law allowed for parents to "waive out" of what the voters deemed as "the right" program for California children, SO, as a parent, if you willingly decided to turn your backs on the "people's mandate", (but adhere to what decades of second language learning research has shown) then the burden was on you to: 1. seek out a waiver every year and 2. sign and 3. return it to your child's school
So what happens in practice?
Well, this has essentially allowed "non-sanctioned" programs (which I call "alternative bilingual programs") to continue, albeit it in a variety of flavors and stripes, running the gamut from "Early exit" models that last from K-2 (or 3rd) grade and are a miss-mash of English (and almost always) Spanish (which is the WORST program for English Learners (ELLs ) (per research) to long-term "developmental" bilingual programs which follow an increasing exposure to English as ELLs progress through the grades with an equal decrease in Spanish, while receiving a rigorous program of core content-- that includes ELD-- in BOTH languages. Unfortunately, there is no State model or standard so again, these vary from LEA to LEA.
Structured English ImmersionSo where does this leave the "default" program?
Again, largely defined by the local politics, demographics, resources and other issues. In more research-saavy districts, the Structured English Immersion (SEI) setting is a setting that is overwhelmingly delivered in English BUT done so in a way that supports the instruction of English in a way that English Learners can access curriculum.
Enter the SDAIE playbookAnd THIS is where in my humble opinion, a "true" SEI program can be distinguished. It is in the use and implementation of SDAIE (Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English) techniques by teachers that allow English Learners to be able to take in instruction in English in a variety of scaffolded, supported and gradually portioned out cognitive tasks. Examples of these:
1. Visuals- posters, diagrams
2. Realia- concrete representations of items/concepts under study
3. graphic organizers- vary from note taking templates, paragraph containers, thought bubbles, etc.
5. varied learning structures: pairs, small groups, etc.
So there you have it, when educators say that it's "hard to explain", they're not kidding! I hope this sheds a little light as to what's what and why the state of affairs at present is what it is.
Until next time!