ABSTRACT
Ruben is eleven years old. His family moved to the United States from Mexico when he was nine. He knew no English when he entered his first American classroom. He was put in a bilingual class where part of the instruction he received was in Spanish. In two years he has become fluent in English and is almost indistinguishable from his native English-speaking classmates. But school is difficult for him. He does poorly in reading and writing. The other students laugh at his spelling. Ruben does not enjoy school and plans to drop out as soon as he is old enough to get a job.
