Abstract
This article examines the literacy issues in public school in the United States, and points out that current programs do not have a meaningful cultural connection to bicultural and bilingual students. The findings indicate that literacy must become part of bicultural and bilingual students’ reality in order to empower them. The pedagogical content of literacy must acknowledge bicultural and bilingual students’ culture so they can make connections to learning literacy. In order to help bicultural and bilingual students acquire the necessary academic skills to succeed on high-stakes tests that are demanded by No Child Left Behind Law, public schools need to infuse home culture literacy as part of literacy programs and practices.
Highlights
This article examines the literacy issues in public school in the United States, and points out that current programs do not have a meaningful cultural connection to bicultural and bilingual students
Bicultural and bilingual students have struggled to make a connection through public school literacy programs that have been washed to remove cultural identity
Bicultural and bilingual students are being labeled as illiterate and tracked into lower level academic classes. Often they are placed into remedial English reading and writing for their language arts class. Due to these students being tracked into other low academic classes they are not prepared for college, which would give them an opportunity to succeed in life
Summary
In order to help bicultural and bilingual students acquire the necessary academic skills to succeed on high-stakes tests that are demanded by No Child Left Behind Law, public schools need to infuse home culture literacy as part of literacy programs and practices. The hidden message behind this federal law is that in order to close the achievement gap for low income and minority students, they must be forced to give up their cultural norms and social values With this policy design, these students will be taught in the culture of schools, which mainly reflects the middle class Euro-American culture. Without the incorporation of students’ culture and language into the reading and writing programs in the public school, bicultural and bilingual students will be singled out by high-stakes tests.
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