The latest test scores for California’s English learners show that immigrant children continue to do well under English immersion. Opponents of Proposition 227 said the measure, which California voters passed in 1998, would spell disaster. But the mandate that schools teach children “overwhelmingly” in English, rather than in their native languages, has resulted in a large, demonstrable improvement in English proficiency.

Last year, more than 1.3 million English learners took the California English Language Development Test (CELDT). For kindergartners and first-graders, the exam assesses listening and speaking skills. For grades two through 12, it also assesses reading and writing skills.

In 2005, 47 percent of California’s English learners scored in the top two categories of English proficiency–“early advanced” or “advanced.” By comparison, only 25 percent scored in the top two categories in 2001, shortly after many districts began eliminating their bilingual programs.

That’s an improvement of 22 percentage points.

But while many California school districts continue to improve, particularly those that were previously resistant to immersion, the system has failed to improve in the area of “reclassification.”

Proposition 227 called for structured English immersion programs that would close the language gap and see students attending mainstream classes after a temporary transition period “not normally intended to exceed one year.” But despite real progress in improving test scores, California’s schools are simply not attaining this goal.

While proficiency–as measured by the CELDT–has risen markedly, reclassification numbers lag substantially behind and have shown little improvement.

The state Board of Education recognizes the problem. “We clearly need to look at why this gap is occurring and determine how to address it,” said Jack O’Connell, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction. He’s now urging districts to review their reclassification procedures, which is a step in the right direction. But he hasn’t yet offered any specific solutions.

Once immigrant students learn English and attend mainstream classes, they often do very well. Some school districts recognize this and are way ahead of the game. Long Beach Unified, for example, has a redesignation rate of 18 percent, twice the state average. Others, sadly, are even more behind. San Bernardino City Unified and San Juan Unified both had reclassification rates close to half of the state average, 5.5 and 5.3 percent respectively.

“I was just at a high school this morning where students who were reclassified outscored everyone on that campus by far in English and math,” said Elizabeth Hartung-Cole, Long Beach’s English Language Development Curriculum Leader for grades six through 12. “Those are kids who obviously worked hard and had to be disciplined to learn a second language.”

Kelly Torrance is an adjunct scholar at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va. She specializes in bilingual and immersion education.