The U.S. Department of Education has reportedly decided against releasing a research study it commissioned concluding that bilingual education programs are superior to all-English immersion programs in teaching immigrant children to read in English.

“It’s a shame that the Department refuses to stand behind its own report,” said James Crawford, executive director of the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE). “Is the Bush Administration worried about offending its conservative political base by endorsing scientific findings that vindicate the effectiveness of bilingual education?”

The two-year study, which cost U.S. taxpayers $1.8 million, was conducted by the National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth, convened by SRI International and the Center for Applied Linguistics. Researchers were hand-picked by the Administration to ensure that only those who met with its approval were included. The panel is scheduled to present its final report to the Education Department by September 30.

Nevertheless, according to USA Today, Grover J. Whitehurst, director of the federal Institute of Education Sciences, has already stated that the report is technically defective and will not receive the Department’s stamp of approval. The panel’s chairman, Professor Timothy Shanahan of the University of Illinois, Chicago, said that any problems with the study remain “correctible.” But the researchers will have to publish their report privately as an academic book or series of articles.

“NABE is eager for the results to see the light of day, one way or another,” Crawford said. “It’s no secret, though, that when the federal government releases a study, the news has a lot more impact than when a study is published in an obscure journal. Naturally, we want the word to get out as widely as possible: A scientific study, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, finds that bilingual education is an effective way to teach English.”

When the Department awarded the contract for the National Literacy Panel, it issued the following statement: “There is a great need for data that can offer solid empirical evidence to inform teaching approaches that will most effectively enable U.S. language minority children to develop English literacy. These large, complex projects, as designed, will provide such data.”

“NABE could not agree more,” Crawford said. “We only hope the Bush Administration will follow through on its commitment.”

On August 31, Representatives Grace Napolitano and Ruben Hinojosa, leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings stressing the same point:

"The decision not to publish the report," they warned, "sends the message to schools nationwide that the Department is not serious about ensuring high quality, evidence-based instruction for limited English proficient children and that it is not committed to keeping the promise of No Child Left Behind for these students. We strongly urge you to reconsider this decision and to publish the findings of this important study."

NABE is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting education excellence and equity for English language learners and to representing the professional educators who serve them.  NABE members are teachers, administrators, college instructors, researchers, publishers, parents, students, and other advocates for language-minority children.