The History Of Transitional Bilingual Education

“After the Immigration Act of 1965, legislation law was passed to contribute the public schools in dealing with the arrival of non-English-speaking students. Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 supported programs for educating these students with English as a second language, including transitional bilingual education programs” (Echevarria and Graves 2011, p.350). This Act did not completely articulate how to go about educating these students. An unclear message was received or not received in whether there was going to be a process of their first languages or a complete transition to English. “The outcome of Title VII was that most ELs were consigned in English-only classrooms without suitable instructional

TBE supported English Learners (ELs) with their first language in transitioning into an English only educated classroom, and the idea that in maintaining, supporting, and further refining the ELs first language it will connect into learning English. This idea is further clarified by Stephen Krashen (1996):
When schools offer children quality education in their primary language, they present them two things: knowledge and literacy. The knowledge that children get through their first language helps make the English they hear and read more comprehensible. Literacy is developed in the primary language transfers to the second language. The reason is simple: Because we learn by reading, that is, by making sense of what is on the page, it is easier to learn to read in a language we understand. Once we can read in one language, we can read in general.
This was the major driving force of TBE. If put in place properly students would leave just as proficient in their first language as in English, but with this idea some critiqued whether there was enough resources to accomplish that outcome and whether or not it was able to undertake it within a timely fashion to actually teach the students