TITLE Promoting BilingUalism in the Era of Unz: Making Sense of the Gap between Research, Policy and Practice in Teacher

This paper was written as a response to the political debate in California regarding the proper role of bilingual education in the state's kindergarten through high school public school system. Specifically, it examines, in light of the positions and prescriptions of Proposition 227 (an initiative holding that all California students be taught English as rapidly as possible, effectively mandating substantial revision in the operation and design of bilingual education programs in the state, and approved by the voters by a 61-39 margin in the election in June 1998), how educators of up and coming bilingual education professionals should prepare their students to deal personally and professionally with this emerging situation. The purpose of this study is to gain under'standing of how potential bilingual education teachers and researchers should grapple with the complex relationship of research, policy, and practice within the field of bilingual education. Specifically, what does it mean to focus on scholarship that strongl