Institutionalizing a Bilingual Training Program: Case Study of George Mason University

Abstract

The 1978 reauthorization of the Title VII Bilingual Education Act clearly emphasized the concept of “capacity building”—the ability of grantees to assume program costs after federal funding ceased. As a result, institutionalization has become a critical goal for all bilingual educators, for without this transformation from soft to hard money the field of Bilingual Education cannot attain legitimacy. Integration of federal programs has always been difficult to achieve, even throughout the 1955–80 period of expanding federal education budgets. This article describes the process of institutionalization of the bilingual training program at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. After a review of the literature on institutionalization, the paper presents eight predictive characteristics cited by the RMC Research Corporation in its comprehensive 1981 study on bilingual training programs. The GMU narrative is told according to its fidelity to these predictors; ultimately, personality, drive and clarity of direction among advocates emerge as key ingredients to success.

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