Describes the history and phrasing of questions related to English language proficiency on U.S. censuses since 1890 and details the changing definition of language minorities. Describes and relates the Children's English and Services Study and the 1976 Survey of Income and Education to language-related questions on the 1980 census. (SB)

Differences in definitions (and underlying concepts) of "language-minority children at risk" and how these differences affect the results of research on the numbers needing special services are examined in this document. Citing the 1974 Amendments to the Bilingual Education Act as the beginning of a Federal effort to estimate the numbers and…