ABSTRACT
Transitional bilingual education is a programme model of educating K-12 students that starts instruction of minority language speakers by providing instruction in the students’ native language before easing into an English-only approach to education. The article will first explain the purpose of this model of instruction, which is to use the first language of the student until they gain enough fluency in the second language to understand content area instruction in the second language. Next, this entry will trace the legal developments of this model as it evolved through several key pieces of legislation. After the historical foundation, the paper will describe the TBE practices in the classroom. The article will conclude by offering the strengths and criticisms of this model.
