Bilingual Education in the
Southern California Press and
Proposition 227:
A Case Study
Kara Sutton-Jones
Texas A&M University
NABE 2013, Orlando, FL
Background
 California is home to more than
1.7 million ELL students, with
nearly 1,389,624 of them being
Spanish speakers (2003
CELDT).
 California has the highest
numbers of ELLs in the country.
Although California represents
12% of the nation’s population,
California’s schools have more
than 40% of the nation’s ELLs
(Macias, 2000).
Background
 In the 1980’s and 90’s,
California’s growing immigrant
population caused a wave of
anti-immigration sentiment with
voters, resulting in a series of
bills targeting immigrants
(Olson, 2009).
 This culminated in the 1998
passage of Proposition 227,
which effectively curtailed
native-language instruction in
the state (Olson, 2009).
Proposition 227
 The “English for the
Children initiative” was
supported by Ron Unz, the
Silicon Valley
businessman and 1994
Republican gubernatorial
candidate for California.
 The initiative was
approved by voters with an
overwhelming 61% of the
vote.
Proposition 227
 Prop. 227 requires that ELLs transition to English-only
instruction after one year of sheltered English
immersion, although parental waivers for bilingual
education are available in some cases.
 Roughly one third of California’s ELLs (29%) received
some form of bilingual education prior to Prop. 227.
That number fell to 11% after the law went into effect
(2003 CELDT).
Media & Public Knowledge
 The public’s knowledge of
bilingual education and
biliteracy is limited and often
filled with misconceptions
(Wiley, 1997; Crawford, 1998).
 Media plays an important role
in educating and informing the
public, in essence shaping
public opinion.
 Many lawmakers rely on
newspapers as a key source of
information (Weiss & Singer,
1987).
Media & Education Research
 Frequent absence or misrepresentation of relevant
educational research in the media, which produces a
negative view of education. For example:
 In one study, the author found that the press frequently
referenced a list created by a fundamentalist activist. The
list, without any basis in research, compared problems in
the education system of the 1940’s with those of the
1980’s (O’Neil, 1994).
 Another study showed faulty reporting in newspapers and
news magazines on poor student achievement over time
and in comparison with students from other countries
(Bracey, 1995).
Media & Education Research
 Issues with the type and balance of coverage provided.
For example:
 Researchers showed that in the 12 highest circulation
U.S. daily newspapers, stories covering education
frequently focused on controversy, which the researchers
characterized as wrongdoing, impropriety, or policy
conflicts. Twenty-one percent of the stories included in
the study were one-sided (Simon, Fico, & Lacy, 1989).
 Some of these issues appear to stem from a
combination the how the news industry operates and
the nature of educational research.
The News Industry
 Reporters covering education tend to be inexperienced or lack
commitment to their assignment. With a high turnover rate (McQuaid,
1989), the education beat is commonly considered an undesirable,
entry-level position for young reporters on daily newspapers (Savage,
1989).
 With news budgets shrinking and staff cuts, education coverage has
suffered, especially on U.S. dailies (Petrilli, 2009).
 Editors expect highly localized articles on schools, not reports on
school board meetings or state education legislation (Petrilli, 2009).
 Journalists are trained to cover big news events, whereas education
researchers report their findings in small, incremental steps.
Moreover, educational research is primarily written for other
educational experts, government specialists, and academic journals
(Savage, 1989).
Media & Bilingual Education
 In 1996, McQuillan and Tse conducted a content
analysis of education research journals and major U.S.
newspapers and news magazines on their coverage of
bilingual education.
 Despite a high number (82%) of research articles
showing positive findings on bilingual education’s
efficacy, less than half of the popular media opinion
pieces took a favorable view of bilingual education.
Less than half of the media opinion pieces referred to
educational research, while nearly a third utilized
anecdotal evidence.
Media & Bilingual Education
 In 2008, Tarasawa compared
media coverage on bilingual
education from two Atlanta-based
newspapers: the mainstream
Atlanta Journal Constitution and
Atlanta Latino, published in both
Spanish and English.
 She found that more favorable
coverage of bilingual education
was given by Atlanta Latino.
Atlanta Latino also frequently cited
educational research in its stories.
The Current Study
 The current qualitative case study investigates the
representation of bilingual education in the media,
specifically in print outlets in Southern California. Media
coverage is an integral part of the formation of public
perception. It is important to understand what the
media says about bilingual education—in content, tone,
and source.
Significance & Purpose
 With few studies on the media’s representation of
bilingual education, the current research
provides useful information on how bilingual education
was portrayed in the media during in the period prior to
and after the passage of Prop. 227.
 This research focused on the daily news as it appeared
in three Southern California newspapers because
these dailies all represent different political and social
perspectives. Additionally, these publications are based
in communities with high Latino populations where the
issue of bilingual education has significance.
Research Questions
 How is bilingual education represented in the media? Is
it shown positively or negatively?
 What type of claims about bilingual education are made
by the media and their sources? Who are the sources
of information? What evidence do they provide to
substantiate their claims?
Methodology
 Using the ProQuest databases, I investigated the print
coverage of bilingual education of three Southern California
newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, The Orange
County Register, and La Opinión, for maximal variation in
my samples.
 The timeframe for the search was 1996-2011, and I looked
for news, editorials, columns, and letters to the editor
touching on bilingual education.
 I randomly selected 10 representative pieces from each
newspaper, and analyzed and coded the content by year,
word count, page number, article type, article tone, research
cited, research tone, sources, source title, source category,
source tone, argument cited, and argument tone.
Adapted from
McQuillan &
Tse, 1996;
Tarasawa, 2008
Methodology
 The coding information was entered into a
spreadsheet, color coded, sorted, and counted.
 For validity and reliability purposes, I sought the input
of three current and former California teachers, without
any ties to bilingual education. The study was also
shared with a peer serving as a bilingual teacher in the
state of Texas.
 I practiced reflexivity (as described by Burke Johnson,
1997) as I wrote.
Results
 Research Question 1: How is bilingual education
represented in the media? Is it shown positively or
negatively?
 The English-language dailies, the Los Angeles Times and
The Orange County Register, were more likely to run
news, opinions, editorials, and letters to the editor that
had a negative tone about bilingual education. The
Spanish-language paper, La Opinión, was more likely to
publish articles (which were longer, more in depth, and
more frequent) that took a positive view of bilingual
education.
 La Opinión’s positive view of bilingual education was
more consistent after the 1998 passage of Prop. 227
Results
Tone toward bilingual education across sampled news, editorials, opinions, and
letters to the editor.
Note: Percentages are out of the number of articles sampled for each daily (n=10).
Results
Number of located articles mentioning bilingual education from 1996-2011.
Sampled articles’ word count by percentage.
Results
Article position (page number) within the newspapers.
Note: Percentages are out of the number of articles sampled for each daily (n=10). *One Register article did not include a
page number.
Results
 The Times and Register were more likely to write about
bilingual education in a rather “cut and dry” fashion. These
articles tended to lack context or arguments for or against
bilingual education. Although the sample of articles from La
Opinión included more articles intended as news stories,
these articles were more likely to include favorable
explanations of bilingual education.
 This trend could be seen in some of the headlines. For
example, the following are from La Opinión: “La educación
bilingüe es para aprender inglés” (Fuentes-Salinas, 1997)
and “Niño inmigrante necesita de la educación bilingüe”
(Linares, 1996).
Results
 Research Question 2: What type of claims about
bilingual education are made by the media and their
sources? Who are the sources of information? What
evidence do they provide to substantiate their claims?
 The most frequently made argument about bilingual
education by both sides of the issue centered on its
efficacy for teaching English. Those opposed to bilingual
education claimed it is not effective, and those in favor
said it is successful.
Results
 The arguments used to support or attack bilingual education
varied by the language of the daily. For example, the
English-language newspapers were more likely to focus on
cost, public opinion, and perceived lack of efficacy as
reasons for opposition. On the few occasions where antibilingual education arguments were made, the Spanishlanguage newspaper focused on perceived lack of efficacy
and parental choice.
 Educational research was rarely used by any of the
newspapers, but La Opinión utilized it more. The Times and
the Register both indirectly cited educational research in
10% of the articles. La Opinión was a little better at 20%.
Results
Most frequently cited arguments for and against bilingual education by
percentage.
Note: Percentages are out of the number of total arguments found in the sample for each daily.
Results
Source type by percentage.
Note: The Movement category includes leaders and participants from both the bilingual education opposition group and
bilingual education proponent group.
Discussion
 My findings are consistent with earlier research on coverage
of bilingual education. English-language/mainstream media
outlets tended to oppose bilingual education, while Spanishlanguage outlets favored it.
 The quality, accuracy, and balance of the information
included the reporting on bilingual education in the Englishlanguage dailies during this time period was lacking,
suggesting bias. It also implies that the general public
reading these newspapers was misinformed on the issue.
 This has serious implications considering the public uses
this information to make voting decisions, such as the “yes”
vote on Prop. 227, which impacts the education of
thousands of ELLs in the state.
Selected References

Bracey, G. W. (1995). Disarming information: Ways to counter negative critics. Journal of
Educational Public Relations, 16 (1), 2-8.

Burke Johnson, R. (Winter 1997). Examining the validity structure of qualitative research.
Education, 118(2), 282-292.

California Department of Education, 2003 Adequate Yearly Progress Phase I Report,
available at http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/AYP/
2003AYP_State_p1.asp?cChoice=AYP03_st&cYear=&cLevel=State
&cTopic=AYP&myTimeFrame=S&submit1=Submit, accessed 2004a, revised July 6,
2004.

Crawford, J. (1997, Winter). The campaign against Proposition 227: A post mortem.
Bilingual Research Journal, 21(1), 1-29.

Crawford, J. (1998). Ten common fallacies about bilingual education. ERIC Digest.
Washington, D.C.: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics.

Fuentes-Salinas, J. (1997, September 28). La educación bilingüe es para aprender
inglés: Con ocho años de experienca, el profesor Alfredo Juárez aclara algunos
equívocos. La Opinión, 72(13), p. 1C.
Selected References
 Linares, J. J. (1996, November 17). Niño inmigrante necesita de la educación
bilingüe: Las personas bilingües se acercan a los problemas con dos visions,
dicen expertos. La Opinión, 71(62), p. 1A.
 Macias, R. (2000). Summary report of the survey of the states’ Limited English
Proficient students and available education programs and services, 1997–98.
Washington, D.C.: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education.
 McQuillan, J. & Tse, L. (1996). Does research matter? An analysis of media
opinion of bilingual education. Bilingual Research Journal: The Journal of the
National Association for Bilingual Education, 20(1), 1-27.
 Olsen, L. (2009, March). The role of advocacy in shaping immigrant
education: A California case study. Teachers College Record, 111(3), 817-850.
 O’Neil, B. (1994, March 6). The history of a hoax. The New York Times
Magazine, pp. 46.
Selected References

Petrilli, M. J. (2009). Disappearing ink. Education Next, 9(4), 83-85.

Savage, D. (1989, August). The press and education research: Why one ignores the
other. Paper presented at the Colloquium on the Interdependence of Educational
Research, Educational Policy, and the Press. Charlottesville, VA.

Simon,T. F., Fico, F., & Lacy, S. (1989). Covering conflict and controversy: Measuring
balance, fairness, defamation. Journalism Quarterly 427-434.

Tarasawa, B. (2008). Mixed messages in media coverage of bilingual education: The
case of Atlanta, Georgia. Bilingual Education Journal: The Journal of the National
Association for Bilingual Education, 31, 23-46.

Weiss, C., & Singer, F. (1987). Reporting of social science in the national media. New
York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Wiley, T. G. (1997). Myths about language diversity and literacy in the United States.
ERIC Digest. Washington, D.C.: ERIC Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education.
Questions?
Thank You!
 This presentation can be accessed on our website:
ldn.tamu.edu.
 If you would like more information, please contact me
at kara.sutton@tamu.edu.