he earliest grades (Tse, 2001). Third, minority students are not expected to compete with their native-English-speaking counterparts in other subjects in English. In traditional education programs, educators and policymakers operate on the assumption that minority students will be able to catch up with their native English-speaking peers within the first two years. However, this assumption does not acknowledge the fact that the native English speakers are also making progress during the same period. Minority students who have difficulties in English usually score three or more years below grade level on tests in English at the beginning (Rothstein, 1998; Thomas & Collier, 1997). Based on this premise, students who are able to develop strong literacy in their native languages will be given adequate time and support to develop their second language proficiency and pursue academic learning in other subjects (Franquiz, 2003).
However, in spite of the soundness of the pedagogical premis
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