PARENTAL CHOICE AND LANGUAGE-OF-INSTRUCTION POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN ESTONIA

This article will illuminate school and language choice and access to educational alternatives in Estonia among theRussian-speakingminority based on a literature review on school choice, and on preliminary findings from qualitative interview data conducted in Estonia among 15 families whose children study in Estonian schools, Russian schools, and bilingual programs. This re-search has found that Russian speaking choice parents selecting Estonian-speaking schools dif-fer from nonchoice Russian-speaking parents in their resourcefulness. Second, the article dis-cusses support systems provided to second language learners and will examine these from the perspective of second language acquisition theory. Despite the Soviet-era threat to the very sur-vival of Estonian, and despite the current emphasis on the Estonian language, Estonian educa-tional language policies and practices seem to indicate sensitivity and understanding of the is-sues involved in second language acquisition for children in educational settings. Many types of choice options have been established or debated in theUnited States that have been intended to help children in urban settings receive improved educational opportunities. To assist in this endeavor and to assist desegregative purposes, limited choice plans, open choice plans, andmagne